Flightless Bird
by Kenjiro Minami
Summary: Little girl with a vulgar tongue, always being teased and picked on for being different. She finally gives up on it all, and runs away to try and start a new life. But when she runs into some monsters, she needs to find help, and quick, but she doesn't like her help. He's the complete opposite of her, and he keeps calling her "Sis". But why?
1. It's Askira, Bitchy

_"Hey Aki!" A voice shouted from across the court. "Where you going, Aki?"_

 _A young girl with dull red hair turned around at the sound, green eyes narrowed in fury. "Where do you_ think _I'm going, Bitchy?"_

 _"It's_ Brittany, _Aki." The girl taunting the other one corrected. The red head scoffed._

 _"I like Bitchy more. It suits a bitching bitch like you."_

 _Brittany snorted. "Whatever, Aki. Are you going to tell me where you're going, or not?"_

 _"I'd rather not, otherwise you and your Bitch Squad are going to follow me so you can try and steal my stuff again."_

 _Brittany pretended a pout. "Come on, Aki!" She exclaimed. "We wouldn't do that, and we've never done that! Just tell us where you're going!"_

 _The red haired girl's eyes narrowed further. "My name isn't Aki, Bitchy. It's_ Askira. _"_

 _Brittany waved a hand dismissively. "Aki, Askira, there really is no difference."_

 _"Yes there is. One's not my name, and the other is."_

 _"What's wrong, Aki? You trying to be a girl now?"_

 _Askira felt her eye twitch. Ever since she started going to Brittany's school, everybody made fun of her for being a guy. Why? Because she always spent her time alone, glaring at the other girls at her private school with hate, and they thought she was trying to check them out. And possibly because she had nothing on her chest and was just a straight plank of wood with no curves, they thought it another reason to pick on her for secretly being a guy in an all girls private school._

 _"I was never a guy, and I never will be." Askira growled in response._

 _Brittany scoffed. She turned to her goons. "Look, everybody! Aki thinks he's a girl! How ridiculous is that?" The blonde girl and her minions started to laugh, and Askira finally snapped. Before she could even blink or make sense of what she was doing, she was grabbing at Brittany's hair, pulling at it as her other hand flew and struck the other girl hard in the face._

...

"Honey?" A voice asked, pulling Askira out of her thoughts. The Twelve year old girl looked up, eyes glaring at her mother.

" _What?_ " She spat out. Her mother sighed.

"Are you hungry, dear?" She asked, pulling into a drive through. "We still have quite a bit of time before we get to the hotel."

Askira sunk down into her seat. "I'm not hungry." She grumbled. "And why do I have to go to that stupid camp, anyways? It's not like it's going to stop people from picking on me."

Askira's mother sighed. "We've already been over this before, sweetie. I went there as a young... girl, too." She sounded like she was going to say something else besides _girl,_ and Askira raised a red eyebrow. "And it helped me a lot. I used to get into a lot of fights as well, you know. And when I came back from that camp, I was a changed girl."

"Well, I don't _want_ to change. I'm fine with how I am. My stupid, flat chest body and tiny, useless mind are perfect."

"I never said they weren't, Askira. And you aren't stupid."

"I sure feel stupid." The red haired girl grumbled, crossing her arms over her flat chest. "I let them get to me. _Again_. If I wasn't stupid, I would have seen that coming."

Her mother sighed. "Whatever, Askira." She muttered before turning to the window and ordering. When she was done ordering, she asked the man to repeat her order, and she confirmed that it was correct. "Are you sure you don't want anything, honey?" She asked. When she got no answer, she looked over to the now empty seat of her car, Askira already gone. She saw her daughter's red hair bobbing as she ran away from the van, her grey backpack bouncing with her full of her supplies.

"ASKIRA!" The mother shouted. The twelve year old girl froze, and she cursed. "Get back here, right now, Askira, before I get out and get you."

Askira turned around, hatred in her vibrant green eyes. "I'm not going to your stupid camp, mom. I'm not going anywhere with you again! I hate you! You keep making me do things that I don't want to do, you keep sending me to those stupid private schools where I keep getting picked on and into fights, and I'm not doing this anymore!"

"Askira, don't you dare turn back around, you hear me?"

"Oh, I hear you alright. I'm just not listening anymore." Askira growled before turning around and sprinting off into the forest.

 _I hate her,_ she thought with spite as she ran. _I hate her and everybody else. I hate her for making me do this stupid crap all the time, and I hate my dad for leaving us. Why the hell was I even born?_

Askira stumbled, and she looked behind her to see that she was deep in the forest. She couldn't even see the fast food chain that her mom had stopped at to get food. She considered stopping, but thought twice about it and contineud to run as far away as possible before she grew tired. _Keep running, Aki!_ Brittany's voice taunted her ears once more as the girl ran. _Keep running like the little, bastard coward you are!_

 _Bastard coward._ Askira thought. _The most stupid insult, but also the truest._

 _God. I hate my life._

 **...**

 **Pffffffffttttttttttttttt... Crappiest beginning ever. Yay for crappy beginnings! :D**


	2. Little Flightless Bird

Run. Stop. Eat. Rest. Run. Stop. Eat. Sleep. Wake up. Skip breakfast. Run more. Don't look back. Stop. Rest. Skip lunch. Run. Stop. Eat dinner. Sleep. Repeat everything.

For several weeks the young girl ran. She was tired and hungry, her snacks that she kept in her bag had run out on the third day of running. She had tried to eat strategically, but she couldn't. She was frightened at night, when the woods went silent and then suddenly became active with noises in the darkness. She was freezing, unable to keep warm. Her hands were cracked and bloody from catching herself when she stumbled, and her days were bleak. She repeated everything she did, day after day. The only thing that changed was her location. She kept the sun to her right in the mornings, and to the left in the afternoons, running north everyday. She ran across a few cities, stole a few bills and bused across a few freeways to make her progress go faster, put more distance between her and her mom. A few people asked questions along the way, slowing her progress a few times, and she barely escaped being put into an orphanage. She avoided everyone she could, stole as much as she could while only paying for a little. She had to keep as much money as possible to help her put more distance between her and her mom.

Askira shivered as a cold wind pierced her thin jacket. She let out a soft whimper and pulled it closer to her body, crossing her arms over her chest. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on being warmer as she sat down on the steps of a random building. She brought her backpack off of her back, opening it up and pulling out pieces of scrap metal that she had collected while running. That was all that really filled her backpack: pieces of scrap metals collected. She didn't know why she collected them, but she did. They helped keep her calm, distract her from her internal pain and turmoil. She made stuff out of them, too. Things like little metal birds that could actually fly on their own, or a one time use phone without any wires. She didn't know how she made them, but she could. It was the only fun she got during her running, the only times she could escape her past.

A person walked by, and Askira paid them no mind as they glanced at her. She didn't care what people saw anymore. She was done with caring. She gave up on trying to look aslittle a guy as possible. She let her wavy red hair become a matted mess of dirt and grim on top of her head, let the mud collected from running stain her face and clothes. She had lost a lot of weight from malnutrition, her clothes that once used to fit her flat chest body perfectly now hanging off of her skeletal frame.

The passing footsteps suddenly stopped. Askira strained her ears for the familiar sound of keys being pulled out to unlock a door, but they never came. Instead, the footsteps came back towards her, and she frowned as she finished up her functioning miniature human. She set it down and let it wander on the steps, watching as it jumped down. A shadow suddenly passed over it, and a hand not her own picked it up. Askira scowled more as she looked up at the figure holding her creation.

"Hey asshole," she growled, voice cracking a little from her lack of using it. "What the hell are you doing? Didn't your mother ever tell you to not touch what isn't fucking yours?"

The figure looked up from her miniature human, a small smile on his face. His semi curly chocolate hair hung out as a mess on his head, light brown eyes sparking with interest. He looked to be around fifteen or sixteen, three or four years older than Askira. "Pretty nifty figure you built here." He commented, looking at it. He took in a thoughtful expression as Askira frowned.

"Give it back, jerkweed." Askira growled. He ignored her, pushing up his black framed glasses on his nose.

"Without wires, too." He mused. He continued to look at it for awhile longer, chuckling as the small figure began to bang it's tiny fists against his hand. After awhile of looking, he took it apart.

"Hey!" Askira exclaimed, jumping up. "What the hell are you doing? Sto-"

She cut herself off as she watched the older teen begin to build a tiny, centimeter large bird out of it. He sent her a cocky grin as he finished it up, and the bird sprung to life. It started to sing and chirp, flapping it's wings. Askira gaped at it.

"You can... you can do that too?" She breathed.

The other teen grinned. "Sure can, sister." He said. Askira frowned, but he didn't seem to notice. Instead, he held out a hand. "The names Benjamin Green, but please, feel free to call me 'Ben', or 'brother', or 'bro'." He told her.

Askiras frown deepened. "Why would I call you 'brother'?" She asked, not reaching out to shake his hand.

Ben awkwardly lowered his outstretched hand, bird still chirping in the other one, but didn't lose his cocky grin. "Just something you might take up one day." He said with a knowing air to his tone. Before Askira could ask any more questions, he spoke again. "Whats your name?"

Askira hesitated, unsure if should tell this Ben guy her name. She mulled over her options and, when she didn't see anything wrong with it, she told him her name. He raised an eyebrow.

"Askira?" Ben asked, trying it on his tongue. "That's an interesting name." He looked her over. "Whats a girl your age doing out so late at night?" He asked.

Askira frowned, tempted to ask him how old he thought she was, but decided against it. "I'm taking a quick break from my family." She told him. It wasn't entirely a lie. She _was_ taking a break from her family. But it wasn't a quick one. More like a permanent one.

He looked her over again. "What'd you do, roll in a puddle of mud during your break?"

Askira frowned further. "Is it your business what I do in my spare time, buster?"

Ben laughed at that, not at all phased by her attitude. The bird in his hand tried to fly, but it immediately crashed to the ground. That caused Ben to frown. "Must have built a wing wrong..." He mused before shrugging it off. "Where do you live?"

"South of here." Again, what she said wasn't a lie, entirely. She did live south of there, But not in whatever state or city she was in. She lived in an entirely different state and city, down in Orlando, Florida. But she didn't tell that to Ben.

The guy nodded. "Alright." He pulled out a phone and pressed a button on the side, making the flat screen blaze to life. "I gotta go, sis." He said, confusing Askira. He pulled out a pen and paper and scribbled down a few things on it. "Give me a call whenever." He told her, holding out to her the paper with a phone number and street address. "Or come and visit whenever. Whichever one you want to do works for me."

Askira hesitantly accepted the paper, already planning on never seeing this weird guy Ben again. "Okay..."

Ben grinned. He reached out and ruffled her dirty hair good naturedly. "See you around, sis." He said before walking off.

Askira stared after him for awhile before she bent down and picked up the broken bird. She looked at it curiously, watching as it tried to fly away again. _Little flightless bird..._ She thought. She set it down on the steps as she sat back down on them. She gazed at Ben's number and address for awhile before she put it in her pocket. The red haired run away girl turned towards her backpack and pulled out more scrap metals, letting Ben's bird continue to chirp beside her as she began to build more tiny creatures.

 **...**

 **Bleh. :p that is all. XD**


	3. Through Strange Eyes Mortals See

Her nights grew to be more restless. She stayed in the quiet town where she had met Ben, and she even ran into him a few times over the weeks. He invited her over to his house a couple of times, to hang out and get to know each other. Askira didn't know why he would want to get to know her, of all people, but she accepted after his tenth persistent time of asking. She didn't like it very much. She didn't like _him_ very much. She hated him. But he was persistent. So annoyingly so. So eventually she had buckled, and went over to his house. When she was there, she had asked him if she could take a shower.

"Why can't you take one at your own home?" He had asked with a raised brow.

Askira quickly found a good lie. "My plumbing doesn't work, and I haven't made any friends here, yet, to ask them."

Ben had seemed disbelieving, but had allowed the younger teen to shower. He had brought her a set of his sister's clothes, who he said was her age, and she couldn't help but to wonder how old he thought she was. The clothes he had handed her looked to be that of a little girls, still in elementary school. Askira had given them a contemptuous look when he had handed them to her, but she made no comment on them. So quickly she showered, and then quietly had snuck off and out of the house when Ben had gotten distracted with his mom, who had come home while the young teen was in the shower.

For several more days Askira avoided Ben, not wanting to run into him again. She didn't want to talk to him, nor see him, for a long time.

Currently the red haired teen was sitting at a table outside a frozen yogurt parlor, tinkering with a few scrap pieces of metal. She created a small dog out of it, and she let it yip around her feet as she continued to tinker and build other things out of the rest of her scrap metal. A few people walked by, noticing her dog, but they didn't seem to notice the fact that it was made of metal. They kept saying things like "That's an adorable little Yorker you have!" or, "How old is he?" or "Can I pet it?" Askira had eventually gotten tired of the questions, and she had taken apart her little companion in front of one of the people who was asking her the questions.

"It's made out of metal, you idiots." She had growled as she took it apart. When she was done taking it apart, their eyes had fogged over, and when they had cleared, they looked a little disappointed.

"That was a very beautiful sculpture you had built." They had said, scolding her slightly. "It's a shame you don't see your own talent. Kids these days. Don't believe in themselves." And then they walked away.

Askira was confused by what they had meant, but brushed it off after awhile, thinking that her dog could have passed off as a sculpture. But she still didn't understand the fog that had passed over the person's eyes. What was _that_ all about?

Sighing, Askira continued to build. She didn't want to think about it much, since whenever she did, her mind went to Ben and how when he had looked at her creation, his eyes didn't glaze over like the guy who watched her take apart her dog. Was everybody like that guy, or were they like Ben? She decided to try it again.

She built another dog, and more people came over. This time, it was a group of girls of about seven, who cooed at the little dog. When Askira called it over and took it apart, their eyes glazed over, just like the guy who had watched her take apart the first dog. They blinked and looked at each other, before walking away, resuming the conversation they were having before they had noticed Askiras metal dog. She tried it several more times, and they kept coming out with the same results, except for this one person, a little boy, who knew that her dog was made of metal.

"Mama mama." The boy had said, tugging on his mother's arm. "Look. That dogs made of metal. Look!"

The mother looked over to the dog and shook her head. "No, sweetie." She had said softly. "That's just a regular dog. A mutt."

"No, mama. It's made of metal! Looooooookkkkk!"

"Sweetie, come on. Stop pointing. It's rude." And with that she pulled away the only person who seemed to know Askiras dog was metal.

Askira stared after them in confusion, picking up her dog and taking it apart again. _What the hell is going on...?_ She thought as she put away her scrap metals. _Why doesn't anybody see what I make as it is, but as something else?_

 **...**

 **Because nobody ever experiments with the mist in fanfictions and just go with it... xD**


	4. Something New

It was the first time she had been attacked, the first night that she had to run in the town that the Ben guy lived in.

She was a beautiful woman, one that Askira hadn't thought she would need to run from. She had silky black hair, covered by the hood of a beautiful shade of deep purple. Her face had been kind, or at least the parts that Askira could see. The part of the womans face where her eyes should have been was wrapped tightly with linen, as though she had undergone surgery. She walked with a walking stick, and her hands were covered with black silk gloves, and she carried a beautiful cloth purse with her full of food.

Askira had thought that the woman was friendly, but she had thought wrong. As soon as she had gotten near her, the red head girl had sensed something off about her. But she had food for Askira, having had heard her stomach rumble while they had been sitting next to each other at a bus stop. The woman had offered the teen a place to stay, saying that she had plenty of room and little children to help the young, talented girl out. The offer was tempting, so she said yes.

But as soon as they got to the womans place, things went wrong. At first, the beautiful woman was just taking off her gloves so that she could cut up some vegetables for the stew she was going to make the girl. But instead of grabbing vegetables, she turned towards Askira, her hands raised and palms facing towards the girl, and she had no choice but to freeze in terror at what she saw.

Eyes on the palms of the womans hands, staring at Askira, petrifying the girl as she tried to comprehend what she was seeing. Eyes that moved and captured her every movement. Eyes that saw for the woman with the walking stick, a device she clearly no longer needed with the freak show on her hands.

The woman with the eyes on her hands grinned at Askira's petrified state, and she began to mutter something in a language Askira didn't understand. But before she could get very far with it, something swung at her legs. The woman stopped muttering the words she was muttering as she fell to the ground, gasping in shock, not using her hands with her eyes on them to catch her fall. Something else hit her, something metallic, and Askira looked closely to see that it was a small metal bird with a charged wire.

The red head grew furious then as the bird continued to prod the freaky woman with the charged wires, keeping her down. "Benjamin!" She shouted furiously at the house.

The older teen poked his head from around the corner, grinning madly. "Thought you might have needed some help, sis."

Askira let out a furious noise. "Help?! How long have you been following me?!"

He frowned and came from around the corner, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I'd have expected more gratitude coming from you for saving your life. Would you have preferred I let the Seer eat you instead?"

"A _Seer_?" Askira repeated in disbelief. "What are we in, some sort of _children's_ book?! Those things are only legends!"

Ben pursed his lips as his bird jabbed the woman again when she tried to stand, sending another electrical charge through her and making her fall once more. "Oh no. This is real. So is Cerberus, Hydras, Cyclops, Giants, Helhounds... um... Leviathans, and... um... Tita-"

"So what you're saying is that all those things in the _myths_ that are myths for a _reason_ because they are _fake and make believe_ are _real_?"

"Mmm. Yeah. Sounds about what I'm saying." Ben responded with a nod. He looked towards the "Seer" and produced a sword that seemed to come from nowhere made of a soft metal that seemed to glow on its own. He went over to the woman before stabbing it into her back, causing Askiras eyes to widen. The woman screamed, and continued to scream til lBen pulled out the sword, and she turned into dust.

Askiras jaw dropped open in her shock, her green eyes still wide. "W-what... Wh-why...? Wh-what just happened? W-why did she turn into dust like that?"

Ben grinned as he put his sword back from where he had gotten it, which apparently was from a hammer that he kept strapped to his belt. Askira watched in disbelief as the sword turned into that hammer that it had come from when Ben put it on his belt. "Well, you see, sis," he said with the cocky grin still on his face. "you're a demigod. I'm a demigod. We're both demigods, and I believe that we have the same godly parent, Hephaestus. Anyways, so you're my sister, and I'm your-"

"Wait wait wait." Askira interupted, waving a hand t osilence him. She rubbed her temples with her other hand, trying to process the information. "Are you trying to play me for some sort of _idiot_ right now? Because I'm not believing _any_ of this stuff. How they hell can I be a Greek _gods_ daughter? They don't fucking exist! And I sure as hell don't want to be related to _you_ , mister _stalker_."

Ben put a hand dramatically to his heart. "I'm wounded. My own sister doesn't like me." He chuckled before dropping his hand. "I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. And if you don't believe it now, you will eventually. I'm not going to try and get you to believe in it all. But, once you do, feel free to stop by my place for a quick chat." He plucked his bird out of the air and dismantled it, shoving the pieces in his pocket before turning around and heading for the door. "See you soon, sis!" He exclaimed before leaving Askira, alone and confused beyond compare.


	5. Soon to Believe

It didn't take long for Askira to go to Bens house. As soon as he had left, she had fished the piece of paper he had written his address on and looked at it before leaving the "Seer"'s house to go there. She didn't want to take the bus again, because that was where she had run into the freaky lady, so she walked instead, not arriving at his place till eleven at night.

Hesitating, the redhead teen knocked on the door. For some reason, Ben was still up, and had almost immediately opened the door. He grinned down at her.

"Hey, sis." He said, still grinning madly. "Didn't expect to see you again so soon. Come to chat about your little supposed 'myths'?" He quoted the word with his fingers, still grinning.

Askira frowned at Ben and walked past him and into his house, not waiting for an invitation. "Just because I'm here, that does _not_ mean I believe _any_ of your crap story about the gods and all that shit. I'm here to make sure you aren't going crazy." She crossed her arms before flopping onto the living room couch, spreading out to take up the entirety of it.

Ben rolled his eyes, chuckling, and followed after Askira. He sat on the floor in front of her, facing the red head. "I may potentially be crazy, but I'm not _that_ crazy as to make up something I've been living with the knowledge of for... five-ish years. So, in other words, I'm a _pro_ when it comes to this stuff. I'm one of the few people who fought a dragon on their first q-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Askira interrupted, waving her hand to shut him up. "That's cool and all, but I still don't believe this crap. Explain to me what the hell I saw earlier, and why you were fucking stalking me."

Ben shrugged. "I can't really tell you what you saw, because you saw everything that you saw. And-"

"Hey, mister _'pro_ '," she quoted "pro" like he had done with "myths". "If you're so _pro_ , why can't you _not_ be all Di Vinci Code with me and just fucking explained what happened?"

He pursed his lips, debating, before continuing. "As I was saying-" Askira let out an annoyed groan, but he ignored her. "The reason why I was following you was because I had been on that Seer's trail for awhile. So I was stalking the _monster_ , not _you_."

Askira narrowed her green eyes. "So I just happened to be there, is what you're saying."

"Mmm... yeah. That's what I'm saying."

Askira sighed. She was silent for awhile, grudgingly accepting what he was telling her before speaking. "Thanks for saving me, by the way."

Benjamin grinned madly once more. "You're welcome, sis!"

"And _don't_ call me _sis_ , asshole." She growled lowly.

Ben laughed at that. "Alright, alright! I'll call you _sister_."

"Even _worse_. It's Askira or nothing, jerkweed."

Ben pretended to think about it for awhile before nodding. "Alright. Nothing it is." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "So, Nothing. How's it-"

"Oh. My. Fucking. _God_. What the hell is wrong with you?! I didn't mean _literally_ call me _Nothing_! What the hell?!"

Ben grinned. "Sorry, sis. And, it's _gods_. Plural. Over two hundred of them. Maybe over a _thousand_ of them. Nobody really knows. And... I _guess_ I'll call you Askira."

"I don't care how many you think there are. I haven't seen a single fucking one, so I'm saying _God_. And _you're_ going to deal with it, moron."

Ben shrugged. "Alright. suit yourself. Though, you owe me, now, for me saving your life."

Askira sat up on the couch and buried her face in her hands, rubbing her temples and groaning. "What do you want me to do, asshole?" she groaned.

He frowned slightly. "Swear it on the river Styx that you'll do as I say."

Askira rubbed her temples once more. "I don't even know what the hell that is, or _why_ I have to swear on it, but I'll do it for you to make you shut up sooner." She removed her face from her hands, looking at Ben. "Fine. I _swear_ on the River Styx to do _whatever_ you want me to do this _one time_ for saving my goddamn life. Happy, now?" Thunder met her words, and she frowned slightly, not recalling seeing clouds overhead when she was making her way to Bens house.

He grinned madly when she said that. "Very happy. And now, because of it, you have no _choice_ but to come to camp with me this summer, and there you will see just how real _everything_ I've told you is, my dear, sweet, and most _precious sister_."


	6. A Brief Lesson of Family History

"So, sis," Ben said as his mom drove him and Askira to the airport. "How's it been with you the past couple of months?"

Askira glowered out the window, her arms crossed, not answering Ben's question. She had tried so hard not to get in the car with him that day, but some force working outside her body had made her get in the car with him, his mom, and his younger sister Annie. The said outside force had given her a tremendous headache the more she resisted it, and she had just about fainted from the amount of pain in her skull until Ben had pulled her into the car, where it suddenly vanished as soon as her rear end hit the sit. She didn't know how to explain it, but that was what happened.

Ben sighed when Askira didn't respond, and he turned to look out the window at the passing scenery. "I'm sorry. But I _had_ to make you swear on the River Styx. I know you well enough to know that there would be no way to get you to come to camp with me unless I did. And I couldn't let that happen. You might not think you're my sister, but... you are. I just _know_ you are. All the things you can do... I can do them, too, and then some. And the monsters like the Seer... they know that. And they try to kill us. Some to just kill us, and others to eat us. It's like a revenge motive for them or something, to get back at the gods for throwing Kronos out of reign or something. I don't know. But all of the monsters out there want us dead, and if you didn't come to camp with me this summer, chances are you would have turned up dead or missing _and_ dead in the next month or so. I couldn't let that happen."

He gave Askira a sideways glance to see if she was showing any indication or reaction to hearing his words. Her face was blank as she stared out her window, save for the scowl that seemed permanently etched on her face while she was around Ben. The older teen sighed and fell silent for a few minutes before speaking again. "Hate me all you want, Askira, but I'm doing this for your own good. I might not know you all that well, but if you died while I was at camp, then I would have blamed myself for your death because I didn't make you come to camp with me."

"Did you ever consider the possibility that I don't _care_ if something or someone kills me, monster or not?" Askira asked lowly.

Ben blinked, shocked. He opened his mouth, about to speak, but he stopped himself. Shaking his head, he sighed, falling silent and staring out the window. His silence was met by more silence, and they drove the rest of the way to the airport, tension between the two possible siblings as Ben's sister Annie talked her head off to fill the uneasy silence.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Several hours later, the two had boarded the plane, leaving Bens family behind, took off into the air, landed in Oregon, and had taxied to the camp that Ben went to. Askira frowned when she saw the name in some language not English.

"So you go to a camp in a foreign language, and you drag me to said camp and expect me to know whatever language it's in?" Askira asked Ben lowly.

The older teen sighed as he got his suitcase, as well as the one that he had bought Askira and had filled with clothes that the two of them had bought going shopping last week after Ben had gotten on Askira about wearing the same set of clothes every single day they saw each other.

"Why don't you try looking at it a bit longer? I'm sure you know what it says."

Askira frowned and turned back to the sign. She stared at it for awhile, and after a couple of seconds, she had an answer, though she wasn't sure how she got the answer. "Camp... Phoenix...?" She muttered. Her green eyes widened before they narrowed. "Oh _hell_ _fucking no_. This is the same _fucking_ camp my mom was sending me to last year. I am not taking a _single damn step_ inside that _fucking_ camp. You called my mother, didn't you? I _knew_ I couldn't trust a single damn thing you said! You and her set this whole goddamn thing up! There was never no Seer! It's all a fucking lie!"

Ben's chocolate brown eyes widened the more she spoke, and he quickly shook his head. "N-no. I didn't know! I had _no_ idea that this is where your mom was going to send you, I swear! I've been coming here every summer since I was eleven! That's for five years! I _swear_ I didn't know! I could even take you to the camp director! He can _tell_ you that I-"

"I don't fucking believe you. Why the hell would I believe _that_? Nobody goes to a camp for tha-"

"Is everything all right over her, mon amis?" A voice asked from the shadows of the camp entrance, smooth and rumbling like a cat. If a cat could talk, of course...

Askira jumped and turned around to see a guy in his late teens standing underneath the large sign with the weird words that Askira had somehow understood. He had light blonde hair, cut to his eyes and same length all around, his bangs pushed to the side away from his strangely colored eyes. His eyes were what perplexed Askira the most. One of them was green, and the other was brown.

"Zavid!" Ben exclaimed. "Holy Hera. You have the _best_ timing. She doesn't believe me that I've been coming here for five years! Tell her I have! You know I have!"

The Zavid guy nodded. "Oui. It is true. He _has_ been coming her for five years, mon ami. You must be new here." The Zavid guy sniffed the air for some reason, and recognition lit up in his eyes a little. "You must be Akita's girl."

Askira narrowed her eyes. "How do you know my mom?" She growled lowly. "Is she here? And how the hell do you know I'm her fucking daughter?"

The guy with the two different colored eyes let out a very cat- like purr. "Mon ami, there are a _lot_ of things I know about you. How do I know them? I can smell it on you. I know your mothers scent, and yours is similar to hers. It's also similar to Benjamin's scent, so I know you're also related to him."

"I _told_ you so, Askira! I _told you_ that you're my sister!" Ben exclaimed as though he couldn't believe that the redhead had thought he was wrong. In response, she balled up a fist and struck him hard on his arm, causing him to yelp in pain.

zavid frowned slightly. "Not necessarily so, Benjamin. As you know, everyone here is related in some way. All I can tell you is that she is a demigod like everyone else here, with a direct godly parent, and a descendant of one who has a godly parent."

Askira frowned, but before she could speak, Ben did. "Oh my gods. That's _so_ cool! So she's, like, only a quarter human? Mostly god? Oh my gods. What if she had a kid with _another_ god? Would that kid have even _more_ powers than her? What would happen if all her descendants had a godly parent? Oh my gods. Askira, have a kid with a god when you grow up. I _really_ want to see this happen. _Please?_ For m- Owch! Would you _stop_ punching me?"

"I'm not having sex with a stranger, asshole." Askira growled. "I'd murder you and myself before I did."

Zavid sighed. "It doesn't even work like that, mon amis. With a two generations of godly blood, if she has a child with another god, that child won't be able to have any kids at all. It's the godly genetic backfire thing so that no one becomes too powerful."

Ben pouted. "That's lame. They should really fix that."

Askira snorted. "I still don't believe any of this."

Zavid tilted his head at her words. "Well, mon ami. I suggest you come in so you can see for yourself, oui?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. As long as you don't call my mom and tell her I'm here."

Zavid smiled, revealing teeth sharper than most humans. "Don't worry, mon ami. I won't. And welcome to Camp Phoenix." He purred softly before disappearing almost literally before her eyes.

Ben grinned at Askira. "You're going to _love_ it here. I _promise_ you will. In our cabin, we have _so_ much metal, you can build _whatever_ you want. Come on!" He grabbed his suitcase, as well as hers, and wheeled them into Camp Phoenix, somehow grabbing Askira's hand and pulling her along with him eagerly.


	7. What does it Mean to be Claimed?

"Come _on_ , Askira! Why are you moving so slow? Hurry _uuuuppppppp_!" Ben whined, bouncing around in front of a cabin that looked pretty generic from the outside, but radiated a warmth the other cabins didn't.

"Let me move at my own speed, and you move at yours." She yawned. She had escaped his hand some time ago, and had intentionally moved at the pace of a snail after she had. The red head glanced at the other cabins, wondering why each one looked different from the others around them, and why there were so many cabins as well. _Can't they just make them all the same? Why must they all look so different from each other?_ She saw one that had a sun painted beautifully on the side of it, and she frowned slightly. _So much time wasted in doing that...i_

" _Askira_!" Ben whined her name once more, and she lifted a hand, flipping him the middle finger. He let out an irritated noise. " _Really_?! You are the most _vulgar_ elementary aged person I know!"

Askira frowned. "I'm thirteen, you dimwit. It's not _my_ fault I have a flat chest and am so short."

Ben's brown eyes widened. "You're _thirteen_?! I thought you were Annie's age!"

The red head let out a furious noise. She breezed past him and into the cabin he had been bouncing in front of. She flopped down lazily onto an empty bed. "There. I'm in. _Happy_ now?"

Ben nodded and followed her in, dropping the subject of her age. "Very. This is the Hephaestus cabin, my dear sister! Where all children of Hephaestus reside. We have metal, a hearth for forging, blueprint paper, blow torches, prongs, and just about everything you need to build something."

Askira frowned and lifted her head from the pillow it was on. "There's a _hearth_ in here? Is there one in _every_ cabiin?"

Ben shook his head. "Nope. Each cabin is designed to fit the personality of every god and their children, who reside in each one upon being claimed. You haven't been claimed yet, but that doesn't matter. I know that you're a Hephaestus, so you don't need to w-"

"Benjamin, you know the rules." A low voice said from a corner, hidden in the dancing shadows cast around the room by the dancing flames of the hearth. The source of the voice shut a drawer, a hammer in hand as he came into the light, observing the hammer. His green eyes were squinted slightly as he looked at the scratches on the tool, running a nimble hand over them. His black hair was a bit long, reaching an inch above his shoulders. He looked to be about a foot taller than Askira, and definitely older than her, as well.

"You know she can't stay in here unless she's been claimed." The man with the hammer continued. "It was the same for you, the same for me, and the same for all our other siblings. She needs to stay in the Hermes cabin until she is claimed, and you know that."

Ben looked towards the new guy, head lowered a little. "I know, Jerome. But, if you could just _see_ what she can do, you'd _know_ that dad doesn't even _need_ to claim her. Come on, Jerome. _Please_ let her show you what she can do."

The black haired guy, Jerome, lowered the hammer he was observing and frowned slightly in the direction of Ben. "You know some demigods excel at different things, regardless of their parent. Take Mahogany, for example. Remember her? Two years ago. Hephaestus. Just like me, just like you. Yet-"

"Yet she couldn't build." Ben finished, grumbling it. He sighed, his shoulders sagging forward. "I know, I know. Same with Yannick, Quinson, Lucas, and others not in this cabin. But..."

Jerome raised an eyebrow. "'But' what, Ben?"

"But... I can just _feel_ it, you know? I _know_ she's our sister."

Jerome sighed and raised a hand, rubbing his temples. Askira frowned slightly. Ben did that, too, when he was frustrated. And so did she. Maybe Ben was right, that they were siblings. Even though the three of them looked nothing alike, they could be related. Common gestures and movements between all three could help prove that, and the temple-rub-when-frustrated...

Jerome lowered his hand. "Benjamin, as cabin counselor, my word is law in this cabin. And _I_ say that she can _absolutely not_ sleep in here until Hephaestus claims her. Do you understand?"

The seventeen year old let out a heavy sigh and nodded. "Yes, Jerome," he mumbled in defeat. "I understand." He looked towards Askira, giving her a small smile. "Sorry, sis. It looks like you're going to have to sleep elsewhere."

Askira shrugged. "Oh well." She said, though she did feel a bit saddened by that. She had to be claimed? She wasn't sure what it meant to be claimed, but it sounded important if her being "claimed" determined what cabin she slept in. What if it never happened to her? What would she do then? Does she _have_ to be claimed?

Askira brushed off the thoughts and shrugged again. She got up off the bed she had flopped onto and went over to one of the workstations that were scattered around the surprisingly large interior of the outwardly small cabin. She gave Jerome a glance, hesitating as she pointed to some metal plates and scraps sitting on the table, a question in her green eyes. He eyed her for a little bit before nodding, and Askira gave him a small smile, scooping up the plates and the scraps and shoving them into her pockets. She then headed towards the door. She heard Ben sigh and follow after her, grabbing the suitcase that he had packed for her.

"I'll show you to the Hermes cabin," he told her a little sadly. He began to wheel her bag behind him and towards a different cabin, not bothering to check and see if she was behind him. He headed towards the plain cabin two down from the Hephaestus cabin, stopping in front of it. "Welcome to the Hermes cabin, sis. God of thieves, merchants, and travelers. You'll be staying here until you're claimed."

Askira nodded, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Alright. Though I do have a question I need to ask you."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"What does it mean to be claimed?"

Ben sighed. He removed his hand from the handle of her suitcase and rubbed his face a little. "Being claimed means that your godly parent has acknowledged the fact that you exist and have come to this camp. It's almost like them saying they accept you or something as part of their family. And then you have a _whole_ bunch of siblings, too, that help you through stuff and help teach you all they've learned about the powers that accompany whatever godly parent they have. Claiming is just... becoming a family, I guess. That's the best way that I can explain it."

Askira bit her lip as she listened to his words, and when Ben was done speaking, she nodded, saddened even more than she had been before. So if she wasn't claimed, she wouldn't have family at the camp? She had already yelled at her mom, and pushed her away out of her family when she had run away. She had pushed away the only family she had, just to go to the camp that her mom was trying to take her to in the long run and being told she'd never have a family again unless she was claimed. And that made her want to cry, a great hole of loneliness settling itself in her heart. But she forced no hint of emotion on her face as she nodded to Ben's words once more.

"Okay." She said, managing to somehow keep away the cracking that accompanied the words of someone trying not to cry. "And... what does it look like when someone is claimed?"

"A symbol pertaining to the god or goddesses claiming their child floats above your head. For Apollo, it's a sun, Hermes," he gestured to the cabin behind her. "a lock pick, Zeus a lightning bolt, and so on, so forth."

"And what's Hephaestus' symbol?"

"A fiery red hammer," Ben answered. "Why?"

Askira shrugged, a plan already forming in her head on how to use that new information, bringing a hand to the pocket she had stuffed the metal from the table into and feeling the scraps. "No reason in particular. I was just curious." She went over to Ben and grabbed her suitcase from him. "Thanks for showing me to my cabin. I'm going to go sleep now." She told him, wheeling her bag up the steps to the cabin.

Ben nodded. "Alright. I'll leave you to that." He stuffed his hands in his pockets, giving her a small smile. "I'll see you around, sis." He said before walking off and back towards his cabin, leaving Askira to her own bidding.

She made sure he was in his cabin before quickly entering the Hermes cabin. She tossed her suitcase onto a random bed before darting around the room and scrambling for any piece of paper she could find, as well as a pencil. She sat down at a desk once she had found them, pushing all the clutter that was on top of it away before setting her supplies down and beginning to draw the plans forming in her head to perfection.


	8. Something Wrong

Askira waited two months to be "claimed". She stayed in the Hermes cabin for just about the entire time, only leaving to go eat at the Food Pavilion, or when Ben had bugged her enough and forced her out of the cabin with his persistentness. Askira really didn't want to go on those days, but she did occasionally, when she wasn't working on her project.

She watched as other people in the Hermes cabin were claimed, at least two every watched as the symbol of their godly parent floated above their head, blazing a color related to the god or goddesses of whom they were being claimed by. One was a Hephaestus, and Askira was there to witness her being claimed. She took notes on the form of the hammer, the hue of red, and added them to her project as she continued to wait for the day she was claimed.

One of them, the people she had witnessed being claimed, had started crying they were so happy, and had been moved out of the Hermes cabin within the hour. Askira had cried, too, but not for the same reasons as they were. She cried because each time someone was claimed, she felt like it was their parent telling them that they were proud of them, that they _wanted_ the world to know that they were their child. She felt like her father, whoever the hell he was, wasn't proud to call her his daughter. He didn't want to give her family, or a home, or a cabin that she could actually call _hers_ instead of the one she slept in as she waited to be claimed and to have a family.

But it never happened. Two months into summer, and it never happened, even though there were many who were claimed almost as soon as they entered the camp. And it started to break Askira, and she grew desperate to feel like she belonged. She grew spiteful towards the gods for birthing her into the world, only to leave her humiliated and shamed beyond compare as an unclaimed demigod without a home or family. She began to search for other options to get back at the gods for being so cruel to her and making her life a hell, wanting to burn the Three Fates for ever knitting her quilt of uncomfort.

And after awhile, she found her solution, inside the hypnotic depths of the eye on the palms of her solutions hands. They had the same side as she did, the same view against the gods. The spite towards them for spawning so many demigods and only paying attention to the children who were worthy of their time. Askira told them that the gods didn't think her worth their time, that they should be taken down, and they listened. They listened to her whole story, the story filled with spite and hatred. They asked her if she wanted to join them in their quest to bring down the gods, and in a blindness guided by her worked up rage, she agreed. They made her swear on the River Styx, like Ben had to get her to go to camp. They told her what to include in her binding oath, and she repeated it, word for word without hesitating.

" _I swear, on the name of the River Styx, to be one with the army. I won't look back towards the demigods with pity. I shall only look forward, to the better days, where the gods are no more. I shall never turn on my comrades, never harm a single monster, unless for demonstration to feign my loyalty to the demigods._ "

But something inside Askira compelled her to silently mutter something additional under her breath, though she wasn't sure why. Some outside force, some yearning that the fact that she was screwing up her life could be fixed in the future, whenever that would be. She wasn't sure what she said, but she said it. The monsters couldn't hear her, and neither could she hear herself. But she knew that it had been included in the oath. The thunder that had sounded the last time she had sworn on the River Styx didn't sound until after she was done muttering whatever she had muttered.

 _Ben won't be happy about this, Askira_... She thought to herself as the monsters presented her with her first task. But she brushed the thought aside, and accepted her quest assigned by the monsters.

Fake the one thing she's been waiting to happen for two months.


	9. Under the Wings Lies Hidden the Truth

"Askira!" Ben shouted the redhead's name from the far end of the mess hall.

The unclaimed demigod glanced up from the small, dime- sized device in her hand and in the direction of Ben. The teen let out a small sigh, contemplating, before she puffed up her cheeks and lifted her hand, pretending to run it through her hair but really dropping the device she had made into it before lowering her hand once more. She looked around, making sure no one was watching her walk up to Bens table, a thing she always did in a way to tell him that he embarrassed the hell out of her, sibling or not. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him roll his brown ones, and she resisted a small smirk. The red head teen plopped herself into the seat across the way from him.

"Hey, sis." Ben greeted her, grinning madly.

Askira frowned slightly. "Stop calling me that, asshole."

Ben waved a hand dismissively. "You'll live." He leaned forward, leaning on his hands, that were folded neatly on the table, leaning close enough to her as though he were about to tell her some big secret that could alter the fate of humanity. "Have you heard the news?" He asked in a low whisper.

Askira furrowed her brows in confusion. "What news?" She asked in normal volume.

Ben's brown eyes widened. "SH SHSHSHSH SHHHHHHHHHH! Not too loudly!" He hissed frantically. He glanced up behind Askira to Jerome, who was calmly eating his burger at a booth half the giant building's way down, drawing blueprints and paying no mind to those around him. But, regardless of whether or not he was in his cabin counselors attention, Ben still lifted a hand and waved to him before pretending to flatten his shirt and straighten his glasses, pushing them further up the bridge of his nose. He cleared his throat. "As I was saying..." He said, drawing it out as he swept away non-existing crumbs from the table.

Askira frowned at his displays, and moved as though to get up and leave. "You're wasting my time, asshole." She growled lowly.

"Wait! Wait! Don't go, Askira!" Ben exclaimed quickly, trying to reach out to get her to sit down. The redhead sighed in exasperation and sat back down. Ben cleared his throat once more. "So... you've heard, right?"

"Heard _what_? That you're a complete pain in the ass? Yeah. I've heard that, alright. _And_ experienced it first hand."

Ben ignored her remark with a sassy wave of his hand. "No, no. Besides _that_." He suddenly grinned madly. "The Hermes cabin and the Hephaestus cabin are playing on the same Capture the Flag team today!" He exclaimed suddenly, scaring Askira and making her jump back a little in the seat, bouncing off the back of the booth seat. Ben's grin just widened at that, making her scowl.

"Oh no," she grumbled. "I'm stuck on a team with _you_."

Ben put his hands sassily on his hips, at least as best as he could sitting down. " _Ex_ cuuuuuuse _me_ , princess, but I am an _ex_ cellent team member and player when it comes to Capture the Flag. You are, like, _so_ lucky and should be _so_ honored to be playing on a team with me, sis. I'm, like, _the best_."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Askira grumbled. She silently ordered a cheeseburger, like she always did during lunch time at camp, and a few seconds later one appeared, pickles on it. She opened it and plucked off a pickle, holding it out to Ben. "Want it?"

He recoiled, his lip curling in disgust. "Um, _ew_! No way would you _ever_ get me to eat that abomination!"

Askira raised an eyebrow, slightly amused by that, and returned her pickle to her burger. "I'll keep that in mind when I take you out for dinner." She half joked. Ben grinned.

"I look forward to it, sis." He chuckled before glancing at her cheeseburger in disgust. "How could you _possibly_ eat that? Pickles aren't natural. They shouldn't be a thing! No way should a cucumber look and taste like that!"

Askira frowned and ordered a glass of water. She clicked her tongue, pretending to wet her mouth but really activating the device she had placed in her hair as she picked up the glass of water, taking a small drink from it before setting it down. "I like them. How could you _n_ -"

Suddenly, a red, fiery hammer appeared above her head. Askira pretended to act shocked when she saw it out of the top of her vision, and Ben only grinned widely.

Suddenly, the known child of Hephaestus was jumping out of his seat, running for his cabin counselor. "Jerome! Jerome! I _told_ you she was a Hephaestus! I _told_ you she was! And I was right! See? See? Jerome! Stop working and come look! Dad just claimed her! Come _ooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn_ Jerome!" Ben continued to try to get the cabin counselor out of his seat, all the while Askira feeling guilty.

 _I shouldn't have done that_ , she thought as she turned her head around to see Jerome looking at her, his eyes narrowed slightly. She gave him a hesitant smile as her device turned itself off after the set time she had made it run for expired, the fiery red hammer disappearing. _He_ wanted _me to be his sister, but what if I'm really_ not _? What if I get claimed by my_ real _godly parent, if I even have one or will, after pulling this stupid stunt?_

 _Look at him, Askira... He's so excited... Why did you just lie to him? He's always been there for you, and you just turned around and lied to him, straight to his face. God, Askira. You're so terrible... You don't deserve him as a friend, or as a fake-brother, at that. And if he_ is _your_ real _brother, then you_ definitely _don't deserve to have him in your life, either._

Askira noticed Jerome's expression darken as Ben continued to blab excitedly to him, and the red head got uneasy suddenly under his gaze. _Does he know?_ She thought fearfully as Jerome started to talk back to Ben. _He_ can't _know. He can't know that I just faked it. He can't._

 _..._

Can _he?_

 _Oh gods. I'm in so much trouble if he does know._


	10. What Kind of Game IS This?

It took the rest of the day for Askira to get situated in "her" new cabin with Ben and Jerome. Jerome had kept giving her these weird looks that just kept creeping her out. It was like he was trying to pry into her soul with his green eyes, like he was trying to get out of her every little lie that she had ever told...

Ben, however, wasn't as dark and sinister looking as Jerome. In fact, he was just like a hyper puppy, bouncing off the walls excitedly and practically _begging_ Askira to pick a bunk near his. Askira had thought that she had might as well do so, to make up for lying to him, but he kept talking, and her mind soon changed. The red head had picked a bunk far from his, on the other side of the room, and had flopped down onto it, almost immediately falling asleep.

Now it was morning, barely even dawn, and the Zavid guy, the one with the two strangely colored eyes and who had introduced her to camp, had woken everybody up at four in the morning to start the day off "fast and early" for the game of Capture the Flag. He had instructed everybody to eat breakfast before suiting up in advance to prepare themselves for the game in the "regular" forest biome of camp. Askira wasn't sure what he meant by that, or why they had to "suit up", but she did as told, groggily listening to Ben as he excitedly blabbed his mouth off once more, not really listening, but just nodding once in a while as he went off about the different things he had built during his time at camp.

Finally, at six in the morning, Ben had finally taken her to "suit up", explaining things and answering all of her questions as he took her to the "training area" of Camp.

At first, Askira had thought that "training" meant it would hold things like weights or other sports and fitness related equipment. But what she actually saw caught her off guard, and succeeded in making her a little, if not very, queasy.

Weapons. Tons of them. Enough to supply half an army of demigods or demi- who's- it. Single-bladed daggers, double sided axes, light weight heavy weight, double bladed, single bladed, double handed, single handed... name any combination of weapons, and it was there, as well as hundreds of bows and crossbows of different sizes, weights, and ranges, all hung neatly on racks. A large, stone wall divided the training area in half, target dummies lining the base of it, a mutilated pile of them at either end of the wall.

Askira jumped when something was set in her hands. She glanced down at the curved blade of a dagger, the metal it was made of giving off a soft, bronze colored glow. She looked up at Ben and into his chocolate brown eyes, her own green eyes wide with contained fear of the weapon in her hand.

"Wh-what's this for?" She asked hesitantly.

Ben gave her a look. "I've just explained everything to you about the game. Were you not paying attention to what I was saying?"

Askira bit her lip before shaking her head. Ben sighed heavily before speaking.

"You need the weapon to help protect yourself or fight another player. Protect yourself from a monster, or from another player as they try to get our teams flag, or to fight a player as you try to protect the Flag, or go after theirs. Understood?"

"Uh... um... y-yeah. U-understood." Askira stuttered, turning the dagger over in her hands slowly, getting herself accustomed to the size and weight of it.

Ben eyed her for a little while before speaking again. "We're going to have to measure you up later, after the game, so we can make armor for you for the next one. Sound good?"

"Why would I need _armor?" A_ skira asked in slight fear.

Ben sighed heavily once more, and he rubbed his temples. Askira bit her lip as she waited for him to speak. "We need armor because the games get very intense, with passionate battles and hand-to-hand combat every now and then if the people on each team truly want to win. And, most often, they do. Armor will help you keep physical injuries to a minimum."

"Well... why aren't you wearing any, then?"

"Because I don't want to. Wh-"

A loud roar cut him off, causing Askira to jump in surprise, almost dropping the dagger. Benjamin grinned as the roar died down, and he turned towards Askira, still grinning.

"Let the Hunger Games begin." He said before grabbing his hammer from where he had set it on the rack and heading towards the forest of Camp Phoenix.

Askira bit her lip, glancing at the dagger in her hands one final time before scurrying after Ben.


	11. Another Idiot to Hate

Askira looked around the camp as she followed Ben to where they were going to play the weird version of Capture the Flag that his camp played. She noticed how many people were dressed in armor, carrying weapons ranging from daggers to bows, all with the weird soft glowing bronze metal that the dagger Ben had handed her was made out of. She saw a kid with brown hair who looked about eleven messing with some eight-ounce water bottles filled with different colored liquids that were strapped securely to his belt and a chest harness he was wearing. He kept picking a black one out of the harness and shaking it, and Askira watched with wide eyes as it turned into a green, bubbling solid that kept forming into different things like a rock or a variety of animal teeth, as well as a small, miniature bear that started clawing at the bottle it was trapped in, letting loose roars that Askira could hear walking twenty feet away from the kid with the bottles.

The kid looked at her, and she almost jumped back in surprise when she saw his face. Soft, full of youth, even. His eyes were a soft brown. Or... at least _one_ of them was. The other one was a cloudy brown, and he had several scars on the side of the cloudy eye, going straight down, as though something had tried to claw his eye out.

The kid with the water bottles smirked at her before making his way over to her and Ben, still shaking the bottle with the green bear in it. Ben noticed the kid walking up to them, and he gave him a small smile. The kid returned his smile with a crazy-eyed grin, falling in step with the two other demigods.

"Who's the pretty lady, Benny?" The kid asked, and Askira immediately struck out a hand and punched him hard on his arm closest to her. He grimaced, and brought up a hand to rub where she had struck him as he continued to shake the bottle with the green bear in it.

Ben frowned slightly at that. "Askira. She's my new sister, and _way_ too young for you."

"A bitter one, ain't she?" The kid grumbled.

"Only to bastards like you." Askira growled lowly.

The kid raised an eyebrow at her words as Ben frowned a bit more. Neither of them decided to comment on her words, so they both ignored them.

"So how old is she?" The kid with the brown hair asked Ben, not directing his question at Askira herself.

Ben blinked. "Um…. Twelve, I think…."

"Fourteen," Askira snapped. "My birthday was last month, idiot."

"Th-that's what I meant. Fourteen. She's… Um… Fourteen."

The kid with brown hair raised an eyebrow. "She is?" He asked before he got an excited gleam in his brown eyes. "Is she open to dating someone?"

"Not little kids like you." Askira growled lowly. "And I'd rather kill myself than date an asshole who's talking to the guy next to me about me rather than asking me his questions directly."

The kid with the brown eyes looked offended by her words. "My dear, I _assure_ you that I am not as young as I look! This charming young face that you see before you is a result of a spell gone haywire. I was _trying_ to de-age a _squirrel_ , but I mispronounced a word and got me myself!"

"Was the word you said instead somehow a synonym for _idiot_?"

The kid frowned and turned to Ben. "She's not very nice, is she?"

Askira punched Ben hard before he could respond for her. He yelped and jumped away from the teenage girl, rubbing his side where she had hit him. He grumbled something under his breath, but didn't speak above the grumble, making his answer unheard to the kid with the brown hair and eyes. The kid raised an eyebrow at her actions, but flinched away when she turned towards him.

"Listen, buster," Askira growled lowly. "Why don't you tell me your name before you start hitting on me, _and_ tell me exactly how old you are, too, because I _doubt_ you're as old as you might claim to be."

He frowned slightly at her words. "Oscar. That's what I go by, because my father decided to give me a super long and complicated name. And I'm t-"

"What's your _full name_ , _Oscar_?" Askira growled.

Oscar frowned. "Sestirrti Regigron Ocarius Vinecious Hunter."

Askira scoffed. "I doubt that's true."

"It is! It really is!" Oscar half-squeaked. The bottle still in his hand started to bubble a red liquid, and he quickly began to shake it again till it turned green once more. "That's why I go by Oscar! Ben even knows! Come on, Ben. Back me up, here!"

The son of Hephaestus shrugged. "It _is_ true. It's on his license and everything."

"His _license_?"

Oscar nodded quickly. "Yeah. It's not valid anymore, since I de-aged myself on accident… But I'm _actually_ twenty-four."

Askira raised an eyebrow, but didn't decide to comment on that. Instead, she huffed and faced forward, only to jump back in surprise when she came face- to- face with a lion. Her hand darted forward out of instinct, balled up in a fist so she could strike the large cat in front of her. Its bicolored eyes widened, and it fell back with a human-like yelp of surprise before she could land her blow on it. The redhead moved to try and strike the lion again, but was stopped by a pair of strong and sturdy hands grabbing hold of her.

"Askira, stop!" Ben exclaimed, pulling her a few feet back so she could no longer strike the lion in front of her. She thrashed in his grasp, trying to free herself from him.

"Why the hell is that thing here?! Let me kill it! I don't want it to kill me first! Let go of me, asshole!" She fumed furiously, still struggling against him.

"Askira, _no_. You can't kill him."

She stopped fighting against him when he said "him". "Who is he? Some sort of fucking camp mascot or something?"

The lion let out a low growl and stood, shaking out its pelt to rid it of any dirt it may have collected when it had fallen. It turned to sniff at a small cut on its side, and Askira's eyes widened when she saw the scales covering it from the creatures' midpoint. Her eyes widened more when she saw the scorpion tail snake around its side.

"A fucking _manticore_?" Askira growled in disbelief once she recognized what the creature was. "Why the hell is this thing in camp?! I thought monsters couldn't get in! That's the whole reason why we're here: to not be eaten over the summer!"

The manticore huffed. "This monster isn't interested in eating demigods, Askira," the manticore said before Ben could speak again. "And said monster is the only one permitted in camp."

Before Askira could ask why, the manticore before her suddenly began to shift into a human, one that she immediately recognized, making her green eyes widen.

" _Zavid_?"

The camp director nodded, brushing off his clothes as he stood up from his crouched position. "Oui. It is I."

"And _that's_ why you can't kill him, Askira." Ben huffed, releasing his hold on her arms. She let out a low growl and jerked them back to her sides, rubbing them tenderly.

"Good job being quick to kill, though!" Oscar pipped up. Askira glared at him, but he didn't lose the look of marvel in his eyes. " _Really_ hot. I've never seen a woman so furious before! Well…" He got a thoughtful look on his face. "There is that _one_ girl in the Apollo cabin… _Man_ can she get mean _real_ quick. Hey! I bet the two of you are related, somehow, besides the obvious 'all gods are related' sort of way." Oscar gave Askira a playful nudge, but backed off when she gave him a hateful glare. "Alright, alright. I'll stop."

Askira glared at him for a few seconds longer before returning her attention to Zavid, only to let out a low growl when she heard Oscar mutter a " _for now_ " under his breath. Zavid frowned slightly at the scene, but chose not to comment on it. Instead, he cleared his throat to regain the three demigods attention, Ben's gaze having had wandered to his hands, which were now messing with some scraps in his pocket.

"Well, you three are the last three campers to join your teams," the manticore and camp director told them. "Oscar, your team is already heading north in the biome. Go join them now."

Oscar saluted him. "Aye aye, cap'n!" The demigod exclaimed before marching the rest of the way to join his team, singing some song about wheels and barrels as he walked, still shaking the bottle in his hands.

Zavid watched him go for a while before turning to face Ben and Askira. "Your team has already placed their flag. They're to the east as soon as you enter the forest. Keep heading that way, and you'll find them."

Ben nodded. "Alright. Will you be joining either of the teams?"

Zavid shook his head. "No, I won't be doing that, mon ami. However, Jerome has requested that Askira stay with him for the entire game, since she has had no battle training, and this game is her first one here at camp."

Askira blinked at his words, surprised, but didn't comment on them. Why did Jerome want her to stay with him the entire game? It perplexed the redhead, and she found she had difficulty processing the information about Jerome.

Benjamin frowned at that. "Why can't she stay with me? Why must she stay with Jerome? Actually, why can't _she_ choose who to b-"

"Because Jerome has already made valid reasons as to why she must remain with him and not you, mon ami." Zavid growled, making Askira blink as Jerome's request finally processed. She suddenly got antsy as Ben sighed and nodded.

"Fine. Jerome can have her this game." The son of Hephaestus grumbled. "But I _will_ have her by my side next one."

Askira opened her mouth to speak against that, saying she'd rather be with Ben _this_ game and Jerome _never_ , but Zavid gave her a hard look, and she choked on her words, closing her mouth once more and remaining silent.

"Very well, mon ami," Zavid responded once he was sure Askira wasn't going to try and speak again. "But only if she allows for it the next game we have." Ben tried to speak, but Zavid spoke before he could, not hitting the sixteen year-old with the same glare he had given Askira. "But enough about this. This is something that can and should be discussed later. You two must get with your team, and Askira find Jerome and stay with him. We will begin shortly."

Askira tried to speak once more to try and tell Zavid that she didn't _want_ to be with Jerome, but the camp director had shifted back into a manticore and was already bounding off into the forest before she could voice her opinion about her given position, glued to Jerome for an entire game that would last who knew how long. The redhead sighed and looked at the dagger in her hands before glancing up at Ben. He had a broad smile on his face, but it was fake, hiding his fury at being brushed aside without a second thought. Askira felt a little bad about that, but once more she was not given the opportunity to speak, Ben being the reason this time, the demigod drawing his shoulders back to stretch them out before yawning.

"Let's get going before I fall asleep, yeah?" He asked after his yawn had passed. He didn't wait for Askira to respond before walking off towards the forest, heading in a direction that Askira assumed was the east of the forest province.

The redhead bit her lip before following after him, still puzzled as to why Jerome wanted her with him, and wondering if he actually _did_ know that she had faked being claimed.


	12. Death Comes A Lurkin'

**So sorry for taking is long to update! ~**

 **...**

"Jerome...?" Askira asked hesitantly as she approached her cabin leader.

The Hephaestus cabin counselor turned around at his name. His thin lips pursed to become even thinner when he saw Askira, and he beckoned her over to him. The redhead looked over to Ben, and he scowled at Jerome, but instead of confronting him about laying claim to Askira before talking to him about it, the brown haired teen went off to talk to their team leader, leaving Askira alone with Jerome. It didn't help that he was walking towards a thicket. It just made her even more uneasy, and the unclaimed demigod had to force her legs into motion so she could follow him.

Once Askira was with Jerome, the black haired teen gestured to the ground for her to take a seat before doing so himself. Askira gave him a weird look before sitting down a good ten feet away from him, earning an exasperated sigh from Jerome.

"Silly Askira," he said her name with far more patience in it than anyone had ever spoken to her with. "You need to be closer for this to work."

She eyed him skeptically with her green eyes. "For... for what to work?"

Jerome silently held up a small device the size of one of Askira's fingertips. He flipped a small switch on it before setting it on the ground, and Askira began to hear a high pitched, barely audible, electrical whine coming from the space around Jerome. Askira kept her eyes on him as he mouthed something to her, and her red eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What the hell are you saying?" Askira growled, fed up with Jerome already.

He furrowed his brows as well, seemingly confused on what she had said. He picked the device back up and turned it off, and the high pitched whine suddenly stopped, giving relief to Askira's ears. "It's a sound bubble," Jerome told her. "Stops sound from entering and leaving it so nobody outside can hear. It only works in a four foot radius, which is why I wanted you closer."

"Why the secrecy, though...?" Askira asked, moving closer to Jerome and sitting five feet away from him.

"Because..." Jerome drew the word out, turning on his device again and creating that same high pitched whine as before. He set it down on the ground between the two demigods before continuing, looking Askira dead in the eye. "I know you faked being claimed, my dear _sister_."

Askira's stomach dropped suddenly, and she found herself short of breath. She tried to get some words out, stuttering a few "I"'s and "you"'s, as well as a few other words that either held no relevance to the conversation or weren't even English.

Jerome pursed his lips again, waiting a few more moments before continuing. "I've also been noticing some strange activity surrounding you. Have any relationships with some monsters?"

"M-m-monsters?" Askira managed to stutter out. "N-n-no. I-I hate them."

"But not as much as you hate the gods, right?"

Jerome's intense eyes bore into Askira, and she found herself unable to speak once more. How long has he known? How did he figure it out? What's he going to do with this information? Blackmail her? Tell Zavid? Get her banished from camp forever?

After a few minutes of staring Askira down, a smile twitched up on his lips. "Damn, kid. You suck at the whole interrogation thing, you know that?"

Askira blinked her widened green eyes in confusion. "Uh-um... What...?"

"I could see right through you, honey," Jerome told her. "Even if I didn't already know you work for the monsters, I'd be able to figure you out as soon as I had sat you down."

"H-how do you know that?"

"That you work for the monsters?" Jerome asked for clarification, setting his eyes on Askira once more. She shakily nodded, and he continued. "Because I do, too, sweet heart. Come on, now. I was the one who had suggested you to them. I'm surprised they actually listened to me." The son of Hephaestus pulled out his weapon- a thick celestial bronze dagger -and skimmed a finger lightly along the blade.

"Um... O-okay... I-is that why you wanted me for the game...?"

"Mmm... Yes... About that..." Jerome leaned back on his hand, the one without the dagger, and pointed the tip of the dagger at himself. "I actually need to train _you_ ," he pointed the tip at Askira, "to kill."

His words peaked the unclaimed demigods interest. "Kill?" She repeated. "Kill what?"

"Other demigods, of course."

The first name that popped to mind when Jerome said "other demigods" was Ben's, and once more Askira's gut dropped. "O-other demigods?"

"Mmhm. Got a problem with it, honey?"

"Y-yes I have a problem with it! I-I'm not going to kill people for you! I won't kill people for _anyone!_ "

Jerome laughed at that. "Well, my fake sister, I hate to burst your bubble but... ya sort of have to. It's all in the contract you signed and the oath you swore the day you joined us."

"I signed no contract, you asshole. All I was told to do was swear the stupid oath, and those can be broken. I'm not going to do it."

Jerome gave her an incredulous look. "You _do_ realize that you swore on the River Styx, right?"

Askira glared at him. "Yeah? What about it? The fact that swearing on sticks is stupid? I agree."

"Haha, very funny, Askira. Not _sticks_ , S-T-I-C-K-S, _Styx_ , S-T-Y-X. It's the most sacred and powerful river in all of Greek mythology. If an oath sworn on that river is broken, the one who broke it is met with severe punishment in both life and death."

Askira's defiance suddenly vanished at that, and she swallowed thickly. "W-what kind of punishment?"

"In our case, death, so I suggest you do as I and the monsters say, got it?"

Askira dully nodded, heart suddenly numb with regret at what she had done. "J-just... j-just..."

"'Just' what, Askira? I don't have all day. We're supposed to be playing a game with the camp, and if we remain gone any longer, people will start to question our true motives."

"Just... just not Ben, o-okay? H-he's the closest thing I-I have to family, e-even if we a-aren't r-really related."

Jerome pursed his lips once more, thinking about that. "I can't guarantee that he won't die," he said slowly, "but I can promise you that neither you nor I will be the ones to kill him."

"N-no! That's not good enough! Nobody gets to kill him!"

Jerome's eyes narrowed. "...I'll talk to the council about that."

"Swear it," Askira growled, pulling out the dagger she had gotten at the training arena with Ben. The unclaimed demigod put it to Jerome's throat, threatening him with it. "Swear it on the River Styx. Do like they made me do and swear it on the River Styx, or _you're_ going to be the first demigod I kill, and I'm swearing _that_ on the River Styx. If you don't talk to them and make it so that nobody can kill Ben, I'm going to kill you, and I promise you that on the River Styx, Jerome." Dispute the sound bubble, a clap of thunder could be heard when Askira swore her oath. "Swear to me on the River Styx that you're going to do that!"

Jerome's eyes widened when Askira actually swore her threat on the River Styx. "O-o-okay! I-I swear! I-I swear on the River Styx to talk to them about granting Ben immunity!"

The same clap of thunder could be heard, and Askira nodded, finally satisfied. "Good." She leaned back to where she was sitting and sheathed her blade, not caring as Jerome rubbed pitifully at his throat, coughing a bit.

"Gods, Askira," Jerome coughed. "If you get me killed because of this-"

"I honestly don't care about you, Jerome. I don't know, and I never will, no matter how much you try and pity me into doing so."

The older demigod glared at Askira ruefully, still rubbing his throat where Askira's dagger had been pressed to, but when she met his glare with equal spite, the black haired teen looked away. "Fine. We've been too long, anyways. We need to get moving before the game ends. Listen to _everything_ I do, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, asshole."

Jerome ignored Askira's taunt and stood up, grabbing his sound bubble device and turning it off. "Your first target," he told her, studying the demigod. "...Oscar."


	13. Only Delaying the Inevitable

The redhead blinked, trying to process the name? Oscar? That weird kid she had met just a little while ago? The one that claims to have accidentally de-aged himself ten or something years? The one that had been hitting on Askira, and that was friends with Ben? _That_ Oscar?

Jerome stared at her, waiting for Askira to give him any indication that she had heard him. After a while, when she hadn't, he snorted. "Just follow me, you little prick, and I'll lead you to him. That guy sticks out like a sore thumb. He isn't hard to miss one bit." The claimed son of Hephaestus turned around and started walking through the forest, leading Askira to her target, to her first kill. To Oscar.

Askira swallowed thickly, not daring to open her mouth in fear she might scream. She didn't want to kill Oscar. Yeah, sure, he was annoying the whole five or so minutes she had been talking to him, but he was entertaining. She liked Oscar. She didn't like the fact that he had been hitting on her, but she liked him. He would have made a good friend for the lonesome demigod, and now she had to _kill_ him.

Askira suddenly felt like throwing up at the thought, but she held it back, only gagging instead. Palms sweaty, the unclaimed redhead followed after Jerome, fiddling with the dagger she had gotten from the training area.

The redhead jumped when she heard metal clashing against metal, and she scampered over to a tree quickly and froze, back pressed up against the thick trunk as a defense. Jerome continued walking, not realizing that the jittery demigod had stopped. Askira thought that was good. Maybe, if Jerome lost her, she wouldn't have to kill Oscar. Oscar would be spared, at least for the day, or week, or month or year, and she wouldn't have to kill him, instead the target changing to someone she hadn't yet interacted with. That would make things easier, right? Killing someone you don't know?

However, her hopes fell as soon as Jerome came back, his eyebrows furrowed.

"The hell are you doing?" The demigod asked, the metal still clashing in the background.

Askira opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a squeak.

Jerome sighed. "Pathetic," he grumbled before making his way over to Askira. He pulled out his sword and slid the blade between Askira's back and the tree she was pressed up against. The teen's green eyes widened and she jumped forward a few steps. Jerome followed after her, lowering his weapon, but making sure Askira could still see it to encourage the demigod to continue to move forward.

After awhile, Askira finally found her voice.

"Wh-why do I n-need to kn-know h-how to... k-kill?" she stuttered out.

"Because you just do, prick. Why do you need to question everything?"

 _Why does it need to be Oscar_? Askira asked silently, not daring to ask her question out loud in fear that Jerome might disregard any and all consequences he'd get from breaking his oath and force her to kill Ben. _It's better than killing him, Askira_ , she told herself. _He's done more for you than Oscar. Just be glad it isn't him. I'd rather it be Jerome, or someone I don't know, but at least it isn't Ben. He's done too much for me. Way too much for me to be able to just turn around and kill him. At least it isn't him._

Askira kept thinking those final five words as Jerome led her through the forest. She concentrated on those words until they drowned out everything around her, including Jerome, causing her to collide with him. The older teen turned around and gave her a vile and disgusted look before gesturing with his sword to what was in front of them.

Askira peered around Jerome to see Oscar, crouched down in the dirt of a clearing and messing with some vials. He was in front of some sort of makeshift alchemy lab, things in beakers bubbling rapidly, and some even changing colors just as quickly. Some of the liquids inside some of the beakers would pop loudly periodically, creating a flash and making Oscar jump before quickly fanning them with his hand and pouring a different liquid into it. He kept muttering some words, repeating "Ω , η Εκάτη , προστάτιδα θεά μου. Δώσε μου την ευλογία σου , τη μητέρα , και να με βοηθήσει , όπως εγώ ετοιμάζω αυτό το φάρμακο για τη ζωή , για το καλό, και για τη νίκη πάνω από τους εχθρούς μου . Θα σας επαινέσω , η Εκάτη . Δώσε μου την ευλογία σας ."

"'Oh, Hecate, my patron goddess. Grant me your blessing, mother, and help me as I brew this remedy for life, for good, and for victory over my enemies. I praise you, Hecate. Grant me your blessing,'" Askira murmured along with Oscars words, quietly so that only Jerome may hear her. She looked up at the older teen. "That's what he's saying, isn't it?"

The black haired teen nodded in affirmation. "Correct."

"How come I'm able to understand it?"

Jerome gave her an impatient look. "Enough questions, you little prick. Just go over there and kill him. Make sure you don't get any of his blood on you, because Zavid will be able to smell it."

"The manticore?" Askira asked.

"Yes. Now, shut up and go kill him!" Jerome hissed before grabbing hold of Askira's arm and shoving her forward.

The demigod yelped when Jerome's shove caused her to fall over and tumble. The noise startled Oscar, causing him to knock over several of his vials of boiling liquids. The demigod quickly stood and backed away from the mess as the liquids began to combine and explode on impact.

"Oh, shit," Oscar said quietly, still backing up. He stopped when his shoe hit Askira, and he whirled around quickly. His eyes widened when he saw the stunned redhead, and he quickly crouched down to try and pull her up. "Come on come on come on," he kept saying. "You gotta stand up, Askira! The liquids are mixing, and they're about to blow this entire clearing up! Get up!"

Never had Askira heard more encouraging words than that before, and she worked on getting her feet underneath her. Oscar continued to encourage her, the tiny explosions behind them getting louder and more frequent. Once the redhead was on her feet, the son of Hecate quickly pulled her out of the clearing and to safety, just moments before a loud _boom_ sounded behind them, shaking the ground they were standing on a little and the air surrounding them. Not even a second later, both demigods were showered by dirt, rocks and pebbles, and a few chips of wood from a couple of the trees affected by the explosion. Aside from the scrapes and bruises the two got from being pelted by the things thrown up in the explosion, both demigods were left unharmed and standing.

"Jesus, Askira," Oscar said, standing up straight so he was no longer protecting the aforementioned girls head and neck. "Ya gotta be more careful! Hecate only knows how much worse that could have been. We both could've ended up dead! Or maybe everyone in this forest!"

Askira winced, and she rubbed her arms, not looking at Oscar. "I'm sorry..."

The brown haired boy gave Askira a weird look. "Hey. It's okay, Askira. It wouldn't have gotten _that_ bad. I know what I was mixing. I make sure that if anything gets messed up, nothing too bad is going to happen. So you're fine, okay? We both made it out alive."

"I... guess..."

Oscar sighed. "Are you... are you hurt anywhere?" He asked, looking her over.

Askira shook her heand and shied away from Oscar's gaze. "I'm fine..."

"You're not. You're not being feisty like you were earlier, and you aren't getting defensive or physical. Come on. Let's take you to the medical building so we can get you checked out." The son of Hecate wrapped an arm around Askira's shoulders and began to lead her away, only to stop when he spotted two people coming their way, one black haired and the other blonde.

"Oscar!" The blonde called out, and it took a couple of moments for Askira to recognize the voice and face to be that of Zavids. She glanced to the person running with him and saw Jerome. They bother stopped in front of the two young demigods. "Jerome told me what happened. Are you two okay?"

Oscar nodded. "Yeah, we're fine," he told Zavid. "I'm going to take Askira to the Medical Building, though, just in case."

Jerome looked at Askira when Oscar said her name, and he gave her a hard look, causing her to swallow thickly. Askira expected him to speak up, but he just stayed silent, returning his attention to Zavid as the camp director began to speak again.

"Very well," he said. "You two are excused. Jerome, come. Both teams are down four people, and with these two it is now five each. We must return to the game, now."

Jerome nodded, and both he and Zavid turned around and went deeper into the forest, away from the explosion and the two younger people. Oscar and Askira watched them leave for a few moments before the son of Hecate clicked his tongue.

"Well, then, missy," Oscar said to Askira, adjusting his arm so that it was underneath Askira's so he could support her more. Askira didn't complain, head pounding and barely able to support herself. Oscar gave her a small look before speaking again. "Guess it's our turn to start going now, so let's do just that. Come on," he said before starting to lead her to the Medical Building again.


	14. Why so Red?

**It's been so long since I've updated anything. ;-;**

...

"Askira? Sis? Hey, wake up. C'mon, Askira. Wake up."

The redhead grumbled something incoherent and rolled over until she was laying on her side. She soon fell back to sleep, soft snores sounding. Ben groaned next to her. She really wish he hadn't. His groans were annoying, and they made her _want_ to get up so she could get away from him and sleep elsewhere. Why did he have to be so annoying? Why did she have to pretend he was her brother? She didn't understand why she hadn't chosen another god, especially given what she had heard Jerome tell Ben the first day she had arrived and he had tried to convince the Hephaestus cabin counselor that she was their sibling.

" _Askira_...!" Ben whined when she rolled over.

"Oh, stop your fucking whining," the demigod grumbled, reaching underneath her head for her pillow so she could put it over her face. She noticed it wasn't her pillow, and opened an eye a tiny bit to look at it. It was covered by a white pillow case, material a bit rough and stiff. But a pillow was a pillow, and she put it over her head anyways.

"I'll only stop whining once you wake up," Ben said in response, whining each word.

Askira growled, the sound resonating from deep within her throat. She removed the pillow from her face and opened her eyes to see what looked to be a typical hospital room, except with no medical supplies or television. Just a bed and chairs. No IV's or anything. She looked to her side and saw Ben and Oscar standing beside the bed she was laying on. She frowned slightly as she looked at them. Ben looked exhausted. There wasn't much else to say about that. He had heavy bags under his brown eyes, his brown hair falling loose in front of his eyes. His clothes were dirty, as though he hadn't changed them in a few days. Finished looking at her fake brother, the redhead turned her attention to Oscar, only to frown ever so slightly more when she saw him.

Did the son of Hecate look a bit older than he had when they first met...? Instead of looking eleven, he looked more like sixteen, now. And attractive, though Askira wouldn't dare say so out loud. He was also biting his lip, currently, slightly but noticeable. He looked as though he had just gotten out of the shower, and that strangely made the scars on his face a bit more prominent, brown hair framing his face neatly. It took her awhile to realize that there was a bit of scruff lining his jaw. So he _was_ a bit older. What happened? Did he learn how to reverse the spell he had put on himself, even just slightly? Either way, it made his eyes pop. The clear, chocolate brown one, and the cloudy brown one. They looked-

" _Finally_!" Ben exclaimed, and Askira realized that she had been staring at Oscar. She snapped her gaze away from him and looked at Ben instead, rejecting the blush that wanted to creep up on her cheeks and shifting a bit where she was laying. "Askira," the son of Hephaestus continued, not noticing Askira's slight discomfort. "You have _no idea_ how long we've been waiting for you to wake up. It's been, like, _a hundred days_."

Oscar snorted at that. "Ben, my friend, it's only been two."

"That's still too long!" The way he whined the words made him sound like an overgrown child, and made Askira wrinkle her nose in distaste.

"What the hell do you two want?" She asked, not responding to Ben's concern. She didn't look towards Oscar, afraid she'd stare at him again. Ben opened his mouth to speak, but Oscar beat him to it.

"We wanted to see to it that you woke up," Oscar responded. She could feel him messing with the corner of the white blanket over her, his slender fingers tugging the corner so the wrinkles would disappear from around it in a wave, only to bunch it up and do so again. But even with her feeling the blanket being messed with, she refused to look at Oscar again, though she felt his gaze burning through her, as though he were begging her to look at him. Had he seriously not noticed that she had been staring at him? Maybe he just thought that it was just her waking up, mind still foggy and trying to get a grasp of her surroundings. It'd be good if he thought that. That way she wouldn't need to feel so awkward.

"You were speaking a whole bunch of gibberish on our way here," Oscar continued, "and at first I thought you had somehow memorized what I had been saying in the forest or were trying to recite a spell or something, but then when I listened closer it sounded more like a list of monsters. Empousai, Daemons, hydras... And you were also muttering stuff about your mother, or what I assume would be your mother. The description you were muttering and words you used to describe sounded a lot like words someone would use to describe their mother."

Askira blinked her green eyes at that, and she opened her mouth, though no words fell out. Had she really been saying those things? She doubted it to be true. She _hated_ her mother. Why would she be muttering about her? She looked towards Oscar, finally, and saw something different than what he had said hiding in his eyes. His expression gave nothing away, but the dark look in his eyes did, like he knew something he knew he wasn't supposed to know, but knew he also had to keep it a secret. Askira swallowed thickly, and turned to look at Ben.

"So then why are you guys here?"

"Because you passed out as soon as we entered the door!" He exclaimed, his voice rising near the end, nearly squeaking. He scowled when he heard his voice almost squeak, and shook his head, clearing his throat before continuing. "We've been here for two days straight taking care of you, waiting for you to wake up."

"Aren't there medical staff here to do that sort of thing...?" Askira asked hesitantly, pushing herself into a sitting position. She immediately regretted it, for the world spun and dipped around her. Someone rested a hand on her shoulder to help her gain her center of gravity as the unclaimed demigod squeezed her green eyes shut. She was grateful for the hand, though she didn't know whose hand it was. But whoever's hand it was, she needed it, because it helped her push down the nauseous feeling that accompanied the spinning world around her.

She heard Ben shift a little in his seat before he spoke. "Er, no... Zavid is going to be requesting those at the end of the year. All we have right now are food staff and the different, um... biomes, I think they were called."

"He needs to... _request_ them...? The camp wasn't just... immediately stock piled with them? The staff, I mean."

"Er, no... The camp was practically restarted when he became director, from what I hear."

"Why?"

"Hey, Ben?" Oscar asked before Ben could respond. He blinked and looked at the brown haired son of Hecate.

"Yes?"

"May I have a moment with your sister?" he asked politely. "I need to speak with her."

 _Oh god_ , Askira thought. _He needs to speak with me_? She wondered if it had to do with that look that had been in his eyes, that dark one when he had been talking about what she had supposedly been saying when they were bringing her here? She hoped it wasn't. Askira didn't want to talk to him about it, even if she really had been talking about her mother.

Ben frowned deeply, scowling and glaring at Oscar. "No way am I leaving her in here with _you_. You tried to hit on her the first day you met her!"

Oscar waved a hand dismissively. "It wasn't trying when it never failed, it was just never returned. Now that I'm physically older, I'm hoping that might change." He sent Askira a lopsided grin, and she blushed profusely, quickly looking away, only to scowl when she heard the son of Hecate snicker.

Ben only frowned more, though. "Wrong words, Oscar. I'm not l-"

"Oh, just go already," Oscar laughed. "Honestly, what I need to talk to her about isn't that bad. I just gotta make sure none of the magic from the spell explosion got trapped in her, because that can do some serious damage to the insides and mind of someone not born with magic capabilities. And I need _you_ out of here," Oscar continued when Ben opened his mouth, "because I need _silence_. Go build or something. Do your Hephaestus thing. Be a man and hit on some girls, or guys if you swing that way. I hear the girls here and the guys that aren't total homophobs just absolutely _adore_ the thought of you and Zavid being 'a thing'." He cocked another lopsided grin.

Ben grew to be a startling shade of red, and Askira had trouble identifying if he was red due to rage at the suggestion, or embarrassment. But he quickly regained his cool and shoved his hands into his pockets, shrugging. "You're just jealous because you want to have such a perfect gay match like I do." Ben pretended to flip his hair sassily with a hand.

"Hmm..." Oscar hummed in thought for a little while before nodding slowly. "Yeah, I guess I do. Not Zavid, though. Honestly not my type. Maybe someone more like... you?" He put on a theatrical hopeful look, and Ben just snorted, though it was clear Oscar had succeeded on getting back on his good side.

"Whatever, Oscar. Just don't do anything bad while I'm gone, either or both of you," he glared primarily at Oscar before he stood up. "I'll be back in two hours."

Once Ben was gone and the door shut firmly behind him, Oscar went over to it and pressed his ear to it, listening for his retreating footsteps. After a few moments, the demigod seemed satisfied with the fact that he was, and he removed his ear from the door, looking it. The son of Hecate then turned to Askira, a brown brow raised. "So," he said slowly, approaching her bed. "Jerome, huh?"


	15. More Secrets? Oh Gods, Please No

Askira's mind cast in the metaphorical net to try and fish out any good and reasonable explanation as to why she would be muttering about Jerome in her previous drowsy state, but when she reeled it in, the net came back with nothing but kelp that wrapped around her mind, constricting her thoughts and allowing only panicked ones to escape, and heavy rocks that dropped to her throat and sank to her stomach, making it feel heavy and clenching her gut. How could she explain that? What was there to explain? She didn't know what Oscar knew about Jerome. For all she knew, it could be nothing. Maybe it was the _wrong_ things he knew about his camp mate. Maybe he didn't know _anything_. But Askira wouldn't be able to defend herself until she knew what Oscar knew or thought he knew, and the tense moments leading up to the revealing of his knowledge on her and Jerome were long and perilous, the redhead doing everything in her power to not have a panic attack, for if she did, it might confirm what Oscar thought he knew.

So instead of trying to dispute what she didn't know, she met Oscar's inquisitive gaze with her own steady look. "Well, what about him?"

"Do you two have some sort of, like, secret incest love affair?"

The bluntness of the question made Askira blanch in horror at the suggestion and choke on her saliva. She immediately went into a coughing fit, trying to regain her breath - either so she could laugh at the ridiculous question or scream at Oscar's stupidity, she wasn't quite sure, yet. Either way, though, the horrendous question had rendered her speechless for the time being as Askira continued to cough, pounding at her chest a little with a fist to try and dislodge whatever saliva there may be stuck in there.

Oscar looked on at her with wide eyes. "Dear gods. Are you okay?" He asked, making no move to attempt to help her. He started to fidget with the blanket once more, either from nervousness or pure compulsion, Askira wasn't sure which. But she knew she wanted to strangle the son of Hecate for being so stupid.

Askira nodded, and coughed for a few more moments before she was able to stop. She cleared her throat and sighed heavily before she started to laugh. It started as small chuckles, at first, but then gradually grew to full on laughter, unable to stop herself from doing so. She saw Oscar frown from the corner of her eye, and he opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but nothing came out, so he soon closed his mouth and let Askira laugh for as long as she so desired.

Once she was able to gain control of her laughter, she finally spoke. "What the hell made you think that, huh?" She asked, small chuckles escaping her. Oscar opened his mouth to speak, but Askira wouldn't let him. "God, that guy is a _creep_. And not to mention a _major_ ass. He _hates_ me, and the feeling is mutual." _Though the reasons are different_ , Askira thought silently. _He hates me because I made him swear to protect Ben, and I hate him because he tried to make me kill you, Oscar_.

Oscar's brows knitted in confusion. "But I just thought-"

"Well you thought _wrong_ , okay?" Askira interrupted. "There's nothing going on between us besides hate, hate, and more hate. And, yes, that means I'm open to dating people who aren't total creeps and assholes."

Askira knew Oscar knew that was directed at him, but he just looked uncomfortable at that. His gaze slid away from Askira's and to the closed door. "Er, yeah. About that... You see, there's, um... _someone_ I'm kind of hoping will, uh... Take notice to me, I guess..."

Askira blinked. Really? Then why had he been flirting with her...? This guy made no sense at all. "Who is it?"

"Uh... W-well, you see, um," Oscar stuttered, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. He lifted a hand and rubbed at his cheeks with a knuckle as though he were attempting to rub away his embarrassment. "W-well, l-let's just say that those potions you made me mix on accident during the game of Capture the Flag... L-let's just say that i-it's a good thing that whatever was mixed and had gotten onto my skin made me look physically sixteen. ...Closer to, um... _their_ age."

Askira blinked her green eyes again. Closer to their age? And why was Oscar so red and embarrassed? The only reason he'd have to be that way would be if she _knew_ the person he was hoping to catch the eyes of. Who did she know who was sixteen...?

The demigod thought about it for a little while before a name popped into mind. "Ben," she said quietly. She looked towards Oscar to see him biting his lip hard, his cheeks no longer pink, but stark white.

"Please don't tell him, okay?" He pleaded. "I don't know what he would think of me if he knew that I liked him like that. I don't want him to be pushed away from me."

Askira stared at Oscar for a little while, and found that, the longer she stared at him, the more she felt sorry for him. Oscar was an excellent man. A kind soul with humor and generosity engraved into his face, which always looked upbeat no matter what expression he wore. But looking closer at his face, looking at the fine details, the hidden lines and meanings, it was clear he had been through a lot of terrible things in his lifetime, the pain and burden of it all hidden beneath his mask of happiness. It was clear that Oscar didn't want to face rejection. Not now, not ever. It would hurt him too much, and might push him over the edge to a place where he could never recover from. He didn't want to lose Ben, his friend and his secret crush. He didn't want Ben to _know_ that he liked him like that, so he had to play up the player, flirting with every girl he came across when Ben was in his presence, just so it would be harder for the son of Hephaestus to determine who Oscar _really_ wanted to be his significant other.

"Askira?"

Oscar's voice came out as a small, pleading squeak of a sound. She looked towards his hands, and saw that they were no longer fidgeting with the blanket, and were instead still in his lap.

"Please?" He squeaked again.

Askira bit her lip and nodded. "Of course, Oscar. I won't tell him." _But it's just another secret I need to keep... Should you really be trusting me with this, Oscar_?

He let out a heavy sigh in relief, and suddenly he was hugging the unclaimed demigod. "Thank you so much, Askira. Thank you."

Askira hesitated before she hugged him back. "...You're welcome, Oscar."

 _But, really... Why are you trusting me with this? Sooner or later, I'm going to say something. Sooner or later, all these lies and secrets are going to be spilled, and then everyone will hate me. I don't know if I'll be able to handle that._

 _Oscar, why? Why trust me with this?_


	16. Are You Listening?

**Hey guys. If any of you are following along with my other in-progress stories... Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about them. I'm going to start working on each one again gradually starting November (don't ask, it was just the first month to pop into my mind). So... Yup! Now that that's outta the way, let's start! :D**

 **OH. WAIT. Before I forget to remind you so: Camp Phoenix _is_ a forum! It's _my_ forum, to be exact! :D If you feel like joining, go ahead! We're on the first page of PJO forums, or just click the link in my profile! Can't wait to see you all there. :3**

 **Okay. Now onto the story. x3**

 **...**

The following week wasn't one that Askira could really make note of. Nothing fun really happened, that she could think of. It was just recovering from a badly sprained ankle that would've recovered faster if she had just broken it instead. Whenever it would swell, it would become the size half of that of a volleyball. It was really bad, and caused the demigod a lot of pain. Zavid said she'd need to "walk on sticks for a day or two", which confused the demigod greatly, until Ben reminded her that the camp director was actually far older than he appeared, so he didn't know what crutches were called, and that that what he had been talking about. Zavid had quickly apologized for calling them the wrong thing, and it took Askira awhile to convince him that it was fine and that everyone made mistakes, and finally he gave in, accepting her forgiveness where it wasn't really needed and leaving to find her some crutches within the medical building.

Oscar didn't really say or do much during the week. He still appeared to be sixteen, so Askira thought maybe this change in physical age was permanent, just like when he had made himself younger, except this time he actually wanted to appear the age he did. When he would come by and visit Askira, he'd bring her metal scraps he'd managed to snag from the Hephaestus cabin while everyone was out of it. He'd only mutter a few "you're welcome"'s and "I hope you'll be able to leave here, soon"'s before disappearing and doing his own things around camp. Askira thought maybe it was because she had told him what she had actually been doing around him during the game of Capture the Flag. Yeah. She told him. Not long after he had confirmed that he had feelings for Ben and Askira had promised not to tell her fake-brother, the secrets had escaped her. She confessed everything to the son of Hecate, telling him that she was supposed to kill him during the game and make it look like a monster attack. She told him through tears that she was allied with the monsters, that she hadn't really ever been claimed, and that the monsters had a spy within the camp that they wanted to use to train her to be a killer. She never told Oscar that the "spy" was Jerome, for reasons she didn't even know. She didn't know why she wanted to protect the man who tried to make her kill Oscar. She wanted him _gone_. She wanted everything that she had done to be forgotten.

The look that Oscar had given her after she had confessed everything made her want to be forgotten, too. She wanted nothing more than to suddenly be thwarted by the gods, crushed underneath their feet or squished between their fingers before being burned to nothingness in Greek fire, becoming nothing more than a pile of unrecognizable ash, if it even left that much of her behind. She reckoned Oscar felt the same about the whole thing. He had just told his deepest secret to a traitor, someone that he had just trusted mere seconds ago who had just suddenly became unrecognizable. He had left her soon after that, not even uttering a single "good-bye". Askira was surprised he had even returned the following day, and that was when she had promised him - no no no. That was when she had _sworn_ to him on the River Styx that she'd protect him with all her power from the monsters, and from herself and whoever else was a traitor to the camp. That seemed to do a bit of the trick on getting on his good side again, but not much. He still looked at her as though she were a traitor - which she _was_ \- or he didn't look at her at all. She guessed she'd deserved that much, but she had expected worse. She had expected him to run to Zavid and tell him of her pact with the monsters, but he hadn't. And she was grateful for that. She didn't know what the camp director would've done, but it surely wouldn't have been anything nice.

"...Askira?"

The sound of her name startled her out of her thoughts. She looked over to Ben and squinted at him. The sun was directly behind the head of the claimed son of Hephaestus, making it hard to see his face. She wasn't currently on the crutches right now, trying to walk around without it. The swelling had gone done quite a bit. Now it would just hurt when she stepped on it, and she was trying to make it so that she could ignore that pain. Ben would keep sending her nervous glances every now and then when she'd stumble or swear some profanities when it would hurt to walk on it. He'd insisted on keeping a hand on her shoulder to help support her whenever she needed it, and she couldn't have told him otherwise. That was another annoying thing about him. How damn stubborn he was. Askira hated it, and she finally realized why her mother had always grown so frustrated with her when the teen wanted her way and would do anything to get her way, unwavering and insistent.

"What?" Askira finally asked after awhile.

Ben gave her a look. "Did you seriously not hear a single word I've said in the past ten minutes?"

"Uh... Nope. Not a single one."

Ben couldn't help but to laugh at that, causing Askira to frown, He lifted his hand from her shoulder and ruffled her hair. "I asked you if you wanted to go do anything with me today."

"Considering you just said you were talking for ten minutes," Askira said, "I doubt that was all you had said."

Ben snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I've forgotten the rest of what I had said. But the question still stands. Wanna go do something?"

Askira stared at him for a long while before finally speaking. "How windy does it get here?"

The son of Hephaestus blinked. He seemed to consider this question for awhile. Askira stared at him all the while. How would _he_ react if she told him the truth? Probably not very well. She's been lying to him the longest out of everyone, since the very first day they had met on the streets that one night, the day he had first called her 'sis' and the first stranger to actually support the lonesome teen and welcome her into his life.

She noticed him suddenly frown and saw his lips form her name. She blinked.

"Yes?"

"Really?" He said with heavy exasperation. "Is this a thing for you, now? Not paying attention? I said it doesn't get very windy here in main camp, but on the beach it does. Why'd you ask?"

Askira didn't have an answer to his question. At least not at first. Why _did_ she ask? She didn't know, but then the answer suddenly was suddenly flying overhead -quite literally. A shadow had passed over them, and Askira looked up to see a Pegasus flying above them, white feathered wings stretched far as it glided along the winds towards the Big House. There was someone riding the Pegasus, someone the demigod didn't recognize, but it gave her an idea. She'd flown once before, in a plane, and she had hated it. The experience had terrified her, seeing everything she had known to be massive now underneath her, the buildings appearing no bigger than the entrances to ant nests, and it had taken everything in her power to not pass out during the entire duration of it. But there was something else that involved the sky that she had never done before -besides riding a Pegasus, of course - and she wanted to try it.

Turning back to Ben, she gave him her answer, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"You wanna fly a kite?" Askira nodded, and Ben seemed to consider this before grinning. "Well... Alright. But we don't have any here at camp, so we're going to have to make it ourselves. I can teach you how to hammer metal until it's lighter than air! Oh, this'll be so much fun! Come on!"

Ben then took off towards the Hephaestus cabin, excitement evident. Askira couldn't help but to feel excited too, the older teens emotion influencing her greatly, and she hobbled after him as quickly as she could, forgetting all her problems for the time being.


	17. I'm Sorry

"Askira!"

The sound of her name made her look up from where she was currently hammering some metal to be as thin as paper. Her hand still went through the motion of swinging, as the hammer was already halfway through the motion. It made contact with the already thin sheet of metal, but the metal wasn't the only thing it had made contact with. It hit the hard worktable that she was working on, the hammer having hit the thin metal just hard enough that it had ripped it like paper. Askira made a small, shocked noise from the back of her throat before she scowled and used the hammer to knock the piece of torn metal off the table, into the pile of similarly torn or damaged metals beside her work table. She was about to reach for another sheet, brand new and an inch thick, when a hand was suddenly on hers. She stopped and looked up to see Ben, the older teen frowning.

"Askira," he said. "You've got to learn to stop when I say your name, you got that?"

"But the hammer was-"

"I know it was already going down, but you still need to stop." He released Askira's hand, and she dropped hers to be at her side, scowling. She watched as Ben bent down and picked up the cracked sheet of metal she had been hammering with ease, lifting it up and setting it back on her table. "Keep working on it," he told her.

She frowned. "But it's ruined."

"Yeah, and so is your hand and this cabins metal supply if you keep tossing aside every 'ruined' sheet. This is fixable. The metal supply and your hand are not." He furrowed his brows. "...Well, I mean they are, but they won't be fixed before the end of summer."

Askira blinked. She had completely forgotten that she'd been at the camp for almost three months, now. So much had happened since when she had first came to camp that she had completely forgotten that the outside world had existed, completely forgotten that they were still progressing through the seconds of every minute, minute of every hour, hour of every day, day of every week... It felt like she'd spent her whole life at camp. That's how used to being there she was. She hadn't realized how little time she had actually spent at the camp, and now there was maybe a week - at the most - left of summer vacation before everyone at camp started to head back home to get ready for school.

 _Home_.

The word struck a nerve in Askira that made her wince and tighten her grip on the hammer still in her hand. What was she going to do at the end of summer? She doubted her mom would welcome her back home considering the demigod had ran out on her at the beginning of summer last year. _Last year_. It had been a year since she had ever called a place "home", and she missed it. She missed home to an aching extent. She missed it so much, it made her feel sick thinking of the word, and her hands dropped the hammer so she may clutch the workbench, feeling queasy and like she was about to throw up.

Ben's eyes shot wide open when he heard the hammer fall to the ground, clanging a few times before it went still. "Askira, are you okay?"

The demigod nodded tensely, and she released the workbench. She swallowed thickly before turning around and making her way to her bunk bed in the Hephaestus cabin. But was this really hers? She didn't belong in this cabin. She belonged in the Hermes cabin like all the other unclaimed demigods did. This wasn't her home. It never was, and it never would be. She'd never have a home again. She'd never belong anywhere again. Oscar's expression came to her suddenly, the betrayed look on his face. She was a traitor. She'd never be welcomed into the camp as a permanent resident, never be able to call this place home, if everyone else knew about her.

"Askira?"

"I-I just need to lie down," the redhead stuttered, slowly crawling into her bed. "I-I don't feel so good. I-I think I might be sick."

Ben frowned and walked over to Askira. He sat down on the edge of her bed and put the back of a hand to her forehead, only to frown more. "You do feel like you're running a little high..." He sighed and removed his hand from her forehead. "Looks like we'll have to finish the kite later," he mumbled sadly. He sighed once more before standing up from the younger teens bed.

"No no," Askira mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut. "You finish it. Please. We don't have much time left here together. Summer's over, and that means-"

"That means what?" Ben interrupted, frowning even though Askira couldn't see him. "Askira, you weren't fooling anyone during the school year. I know you don't actually live up in Minnesota. So what was going on, huh?"

Askira winced, and she let out a small whimper. She couldn't help it as she started to cry uncontrollably into her hands. But she didn't want to cry into her hands. It was too obvious. So she rolled over and buried her face into her pillow and cried into that.

Ben bit his lip and took a step forward towards Askira, hesitating before he sat down on the edge of the bed once more. "I'm sorry, Askira," he murmured. "I didn't know it was a sensitive subject. What... what happened? Did something happen to her, your mom?"

Askira shook her head. "I-I don't want to talk about i-it," she cried. "J-just go away. L-leave me alone."

Ben appeared as though he wanted to say something, but he soon closed his mouth, shaking his head. He stood from Askira's bed and went to the door. "Have it your way, Askira," he said softly. "But just know I'll be here when you want to talk. I'll _always_ be here for you, Askira."

"W-why? Why do you say that?"

"Because, Askira," Ben responded, hand on the door handle. "You're my sister. We're family. And, yeah, you might not always be the nicest to me, but I'll always love you, and I'll always be there for you, even when you don't want me to be."

He left after that, leaving Askira in stunned silence. _Always_? she asked silent, but then she bit her lip hard. _But you didn't swear it,_ she thought desperately. _You didn't swear it on the River Styx, Ben. Which means that it can change. Which means it_ will _change once you learn my secrets... But that'd be good, right? You not... not loving me anymore? I think it'd be good... That way, once I can't keep these secrets in anymore, you won't feel as betrayed. You'd already be hating me. You'd have expected it from me._

Askira sniffed and curled up onto her side. _That's it_ , she thought. _I'm going to fight with him. As much as possible. We're going to fight so much, he's going to give up on me. He won't want to always be there for me._

"After this summer," she said quietly to the empty cabin. "At the end of the year, that's when I'm going to make it happen. I'm sorry, Ben, but it's for the best. I don't want you to look at me the same way Oscar does, now. I'm sorry."

The demigod curled into a tighter ball and started to cry once more into her pillow, quietly at first, but her silent sobs soon turned to agonizing muffled wails of grief in anticipation of a lose she had yet to experience.


	18. Give or Take A Few

**I know my uploads are inconsistent, but...**

 **EHHHH. xD**

 **...**

"Are you ready, Askira?"

The redhead looked up from where she was currently drawing a blueprint for a mechanical dragon. She looked back down at it, momentarily ignoring Ben as an idea came to mind, jotting it down before she forgot what it was. _This isn't going to be done for a very long time_ , she thought, _but when it is, my time will be well worth it._ She drew a line faintly across the paper, sketching it in like a sketch artist might do with, well, a sketch.

She heard Ben sigh in exasperation. "Askira," he groaned. "Today is our _last day_ at camp, and you wanted to do this last week. Now that we have it _done_ , let's _go_."

"One moment," the demigod snapped at Ben, though he made sure she immediately regretted it. All of a sudden Ben was on her, leaning against the smaller teen and whining his high pitched, annoying whine, arms strewn over her shoulders as though he were attempting to get a piggy back ride from the redhead. Not expecting this, her hand jerked, gouging the paper and tearing it with a sound that Askira felt had emotionally torn her, too. She stared in horror at her ruined blueprint, Ben blinking behind her and standing to nervously shift from foot to foot.

"I-I'm sorry, Askira," he said sincerely. "I didn't know that would-"

The demigod didn't want to hear another word of it. Letting out a noise that sounded both like a high pitched squeal of frustration and a low resonating growl of anger, Askira grabbed hold of her blueprints and tore them up, each tear savage and full of every ounce of hate the demigod felt towards Ben at that moment. Ben stared at her in horror as he watched her, trying to find his voice but unable to. She knew she shouldn't act like that. It really _had_ been an accident, and she knew this. It just frustrated her that he was so _stupid_ and _careless_ when it came to the things he did that she couldn't help it as she tore up the paper, tore up her plans that she had worked so hard on, taking her aggression out on herself rather than on Ben.

"Askira!" Ben exclaimed, suddenly able to find his voice. But it was already too late. The blueprints had been reduced to nothing more than shreds. The son of Hephaestus let out a small whimper, a sound Askira had never heard him make, and immediately guilt crashed over her.

"I'm sorry..."

Ben sighed. He rubbed at his face. "Don't be, Askira. I know you were frustrated. But I could've helped you fix it..."

"L-let's forget about it," Askira stammered. "L-let's um... Just o fly that kite, yeah?" She tried giving him a small smile.

To her relief, Ben smiled back. "Uh, yeah, sure. Yeah! Let's go do that. Are you ready?" His chocolate brown eyes scanned her from behind his glasses. "It's going to be pretty hot down at the beach. You might not want to wear jeans, even if they _are_ covered in holes."

Askira frowned. "But I have nothing else to wear."

Ben gave her a wide grin at that. "Lucky you, little sis! A pair of Annie's shorts happened to get into my suitcase. Seeing as you don't have any-ah... _defining curves_ and are a little, ah... _short_ , too," he ignored the glare that Askira gave him, "I'm sure they'll fit you just fine!"

"Are you _positive_?" Askira asked, trying not to feel insulted or upset that he had just pointed out that she looked more like a guy than a girl curve wise. "I don't want them falling off or to be too tight on me."

Ben grinned, glad she hadn't objected. "Positive."

º°º°º°º°º

It appeared Ben had been correct about the shorts fitting her. What he didn't tell her, however, was that they were jean shorts, and were... well... _short_. Used to wearing sports shorts designed for men when she did wear shorts, Askira had a hard time not trying to pull the mid-thigh length jean shorts down to go to just above her knees, preferably down to her ankles, though, since she wore jeans and the likes thereof more often than she did shorts. Ben noticed her messing with the bottom of the shorts as they walked, the older teen carrying their kite made of hammered metal, and he raised an eyebrow towards her.

"Not used to wearing shorts, huh?"

"I'm not used to feeling like a _girl_ ," she retorted, scowling when he laughed. "I don't even understand why your sister owns something so _short_."

"They're called shorts for a reason, you know," Ben pointed out, shaking his head in amusement. He looked up and squinted through his glasses before moving his head a bit to the left and right. After a little while of doing that, he sighed and took off his glasses with a single hand. "Could you take the kite real quick, please?"

Askira nodded and took it from him. This was the first time she had held the finished kite, and she almost dropped it, expecting it to be heavier than it was. Ben made sure that she was holding it correctly and was fine with holding it before he proceeded to clean his glasses. The redhead watched him for a little while before speaking.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean they need to be _exposing_. And don't you dare say they aren't exposing anything while I'm wearing them," she added quickly, seeing Ben open his mouth.

The son of Hephaestus chuckled and shook his head. "I wasn't going to say that. Really, Askira. Stop being such a... such a _girl_ when it comes to your body. You're perfect, Askira. This was how you were meant to look. And I'm _not_ just saying that because I'm your brother."

Askira frowned at that, and she snapped her gaze forward. "Yeah, well, I'd at least like to have more _chest_. I'm, like, a negative A. I hate it. All the other girls here have bigger breasts than I do, and it's not f-"

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. _Whoa_ ," Ben said quickly, shaking his head. "Hold the phone there, sis." Askira looked back at him, an eyebrow raised. "I am _not_ about to go there with you."

"Go where?" She asked in mild confusion.

"Go _there,_ " Ben said as though she'd know what he was talking about, but when all he got in reply was a confused look and silence, he continued, putting his glasses back on his face. "The whole 'whose breasts are bigger' thing. Nu uh. No way. I am _not_ having that conversation with my sister, no matter _how_ insecure she may be."

Askira pretended to pout, but when Ben's hard expression didn't waver, she grumbled a sour "fine" before looking forward again. She was silent for a little while before saying "It's still not fair, though," making her smile when she heard Ben groan in exasperation.

After that they walked in a relative silence for a little while before Ben stopped suddenly, blinking. Askira didn't realize he had stopped until she had walked twenty feet ahead of him, at which point she, too, stopped and turned around, red eyebrows furrowed.

"Why'd you stop?"

"I just realized you don't have a jacket to wear." When he got a raised eyebrow in response, he continued to elaborate on his answer. "It gets a little chilly there, at the beach part of camp. With all the wind blowing and all. Should we go back for a jacket for you?"

Askira raised her eyebrow further. "Ben, I spent all of winter outside, as you have discovered. I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Yeah, but you had a _lot_ of clothes with you and-"

"Actually, I didn't."

Ben stared at her for a little while before sighing. "Yeah, I guess you'll be fine," he grumbled before sighing once more. "Let's keep going. We're almost there." He started walking again, and Askira fell into step beside him once he walked by her.

"How far away is 'almost there'?" She asked curiously. "I mean, this camp seems a little huge, so I was just wondering."

"Oh, ten to fifteen minutes," Ben responded. "...Give or take five to ten minutes."

Askira blinked. "That's _really_ far."

Ben shrugged. "This camp as huge, as you had said."

"Yeah, but _how_ huge?"

The son of Hephaestus furrowed his brows. "Um... Last calculations I was aware of was a forty kilometer radius. Yes," he said when Askira opened her mouth. "I did say forty kilometers. And yes," he said again, interrupting her once more, "I did say kilometer. Zavid's old fashioned - quite literally, too. He doesn't use the 'American measurement system'. He thinks it's too confusing."

Askira thought about that for a little while, trying to remember what she had learned during the conversions unit at her school. "So... That's about, um... twenty five mile radius...?"

"Give or take a few yards, yes."

Her eyes widened. "So... this camp has _fity_ _miles of land_?"

"Fifty miles squared," Ben corrected. He grinned at her when he saw her baffled expression. "Oh, sis. It's Oregon. Most of everyone lives in Portland, and that's right up on the border of Washington. They have the land to spare. Besides. The main camp is in a circle at the center of that that's four miles in diameter."

"But... _still_! That's... it's _huge_!"

Ben laughed at her reaction. "That it is, sis. And that's why it's taking us so long to get to the beach."

"And nobody _notices_?"

"Notices the camp? No, not unless you're a demigod. And even then, flying above it and its different biomes around the main camp, it looks just like farm land. Even _we_ don't know it's here flying above it or driving by it unless we're _looking_ for it."

Askira shook her head. "But what do we do to make up for that land? The parts that look like farmland? _Surely_ people would notice _that_ , that we aren't giving anything in return."

Ben shrugged. "Heck if I know. Ask Zavid about it. I just know that the camp is here, we can't find it unless we're specifically looking for it or are being chased by monsters, and that it's huge."

"Wow... Well, okay."

Ben raised an eyenrow. "'Okay'?"

Askira nodded. "Yeah, 'okay'. What else did you want me to say, huh?"

The older teen chuckled and shook his head. "I don't know, nothing, I guess. Anyways. Let's keep walking."

Askira nodded and did as told, thinking about what she had just learned about the camp. _Gods,_ she thought. _There is still a lot I need to learn about being a demigod. And this camp. Wow..._

Still thinking on that, she let silence fall between them, which Ben soon began to fill with random things that had no relevance to what they were doing as they continued to walk towards the beach.

 **...**

 **A little awkward on the ending, I know, but...**

 **Nyeh. x3**

 **Please review! It helps!**


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